That should have been the end of it.
Grace stared at her for a long moment.
Then she nodded once.
When the assembly ended, Grace ran to me and I held her so tightly my arms hurt.
Into my shoulder she whispered, “They remembered him, Mom.”
I kissed her hair. “No, baby. They never forgot.”
That should have been the end of it.
It wasn’t.
I opened my mouth and gave the easiest answer first.
That night, the medal sat on our kitchen table beside the folded flag. Grace kept walking past it like she needed to make sure it was still real.
Then she stopped.
“Mom?”
“Yeah?”
“If this was approved years ago, why didn’t we get it?”
I opened my mouth and gave the easiest answer first.
