Chapter 20 - A New Horizon: No More Waiting
The morning sun rose over our new home in Seattle,
painting the snow-capped peaks of the Cascades in brilliant shades of rose and gold,
the air was crisp and clean,
carrying the scent of pine and salt water from Puget Sound,
Eli was eleven now,
tall,
bright,
and laughing as he packed his backpack for school,
his right leg strong and steady,
running across the soccer field every weekend without a trace of the shadow that once hung over his childhood,
I stood by the kitchen window,
holding a mug of steaming coffee,
watching him sprint down the driveway to catch the yellow school bus,
he turned before stepping up the metal stairs,
flashing a bright,
unburdened smile and waving goodbye,
I waved back,
feeling the last lingering ghost of the past dissolve into the crisp morning wind,
we had stopped waiting years ago,
we had stopped listening for footsteps that never came,
and in doing so,
we had finally found the one thing money could never buy,
May you like
a life built entirely on truth,
and a home where we never had to wait for love again.
