My Brother’s Final Words
Elias,
I don’t deserve your forgiveness.
When my wife died, I became someone I didn’t recognize.
Every time I looked at the girls, I saw everything I’d lost.
You looked at them…
…and saw everything worth living for.
I spent years convincing myself I’d come back.
Then shame became heavier than distance.
I watched from far away.
I saw school pictures.
Soccer games.
Birthdays.
I saw you becoming the father I should have been.
So I stayed away.
Not because I didn’t love them.
Because I knew they already had someone better.
If they ever ask who raised them…
Tell them the truth.
You did.
Not me.
I couldn’t finish.
The paper slipped from my hands.
