I’d never been so grateful for anything in all my life. “Daisies,” I said, pointing to a bunch of wildflowers growing around a stop sign near the entrance of our neighborhood. “What?” Heather asked, leaning over the car console, closer to me. “I never noticed those daisies before,” I said. Turning the car to the shoulder of the road, she got out and plucked two of the flowers. Back inside, she handed them to me. “What did you do that for?” “Because I felt like it,” she said and continued driving. “Two flowers to remind you that you’ve got two people who love you more than you know.” At home Malley had made a sign that spelled out “Welcome Home” in gold stars. “Do you know how many boxes of stars it took me to make that sign?” Right then I knew something had changed. Looking down at the scattered pieces of adhesive paper that were left from Malley’s workmanship, I never once mentioned that she needed to clean up the mess. I guess the difference was, now I chose not to speak the words, even if they ran through my mind.
