eyes of my mother—the same eyes that had looked at me with such pride now stared back with an undetectable emotion. And when she opened her arms for me, I walked straight into them, staring blankly at the wall behind us. The silence between us was loud, comforting me as I knew it was something that we had to talk about. But my mother didn’t press the issue, and her embrace felt like safety to me. I wouldn’t ever let go.

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