22-Year-Old Man Proposed to His Patient with a Gummy Ring Despite Cruel Jokes – After Her Passing, Her Lawyer Called About a Final Gift

Below it, in another handwriting, "Am not. Maggie."

Grandma burst out laughing.

I laughed with her.

Then she reached for my hand.

"James, I wish she'd known I'd forgiven her."

"I think she knew you loved her."

"That's not quite the same thing."

"No," I said. "I guess it isn't."

We sat quietly.

Then Grandma turned the page.

"Keep reading."

So I did.

I still had bills to pay and classes to finish.

I still missed Eleanor.

Her children might never believe me.

But I no longer felt I had to prove that what we'd shared mattered.

Eleanor had seen something in me that I'd struggled to see in myself.

And sitting beside Grandma, reading a book two girls had loved more than 50 years earlier, I finally understood.

Eleanor hadn't taught me how to be worthy of love.

She'd simply helped me recognize that I already was.

When I finished the chapter, Grandma squeezed my hand.

"That was lovely, James."