Suddenly, she held out her arms.
“Emmy, do you remember the song?”
I froze.
“What song?”
She began humming softly.
It was an old lullaby.
A melody I hadn’t heard since childhood.
Yet somehow, I knew every note.
Without thinking, I began singing along.
Margaret started sobbing.
And then something extraordinary happened.
A memory returned.
I saw a beautiful garden filled with white roses.
A little girl running barefoot across the grass.
A woman in a pink blouse laughing.
And a grandmother calling from the porch.
“Emmy! Don’t forget Mr. Buttons!”
My knees buckled.
I fell beside Margaret’s wheelchair.
“Grandma?” I whispered.
She wrapped her trembling arms around me.
“My baby. My precious baby. You’re finally home.”
For several minutes, none of us could speak.
Then I remembered something.
“The shoes,” I whispered. “Why did you tell me to take them off?”
Richard wiped his eyes.
