March 2007 (cont.)

For my part, knowing Peter made me more open, more tolerant, more able to love beyond my own preconceived notions of who another person should be.

I apologized to him once for all I was unable to give to a bright, oppositional boy. He was a man then, and he answered with a man’s grace. “Mom,” he said, “you tried. You always tried.”

For the rest of my life, I will hold that answer close.