Elise’s sister wanted to take you, but she was sick. The state got involved. And someone suggested a solution that would keep paperwork simpler and keep questions away from you while you healed.
So I became “Uncle Graham.”
I signed what they put in front of me. I swallowed the truth. I told myself it didn’t matter what you called me as long as you had someone.
I read those lines three times.
I remembered his hands lifting me. His voice cheering at my school awards. The way he watched the doorway when I rolled into a room, like he was silently daring the world to hurt me.
All those years… he wasn’t stepping up because he had to.
He was stepping up because he couldn’t not.
The letter continued.
There’s more. And it’s the part that may hurt the most.
Elise left something for you. It’s been waiting all these years because I couldn’t bring myself to open it without you.
