Chapter 27 - THE LETTER RYAN WROTE TO HIS YOUNGER SELF
Ryan kept the childhood journal.
But he added something to it.
A letter.
He wrote it one evening after Noah went to bed.
He didn't show me until he finished.
The first line said:
You were not a bad boy.
The second:
You were a scared child.
Then:
You did not deserve to be hungry.
You did not deserve to be humiliated.
You did not deserve to believe love had to be earned.
The final paragraph made me cry.
You survived because someone eventually believed you. One day, you will become the father you needed. When that happens, don't look back and ask why you weren't stronger. Look at your son and understand how far you came.
Ryan folded the letter.
“What will you do with it?”
“I don't know.”
I smiled.
“Keep it.”
He nodded.
The next morning, he put it inside the old box.
Beside the toy car.
Beside the blue sweater.
Beside the childhood photographs.
The box no longer contained only evidence of what had happened.
May you like
It contained proof of what came after.
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