Chapter 25 - LYDIA’S BOOKSTORE
The Lydia Moore Foundation officially opened on what would have been Lydia’s fifty-third birthday.
The restored bookstore looked almost exactly as Nora remembered it.
Wooden shelves.
White daisies near the windows.
A reading corner for children.
Legal offices upstairs.
Above the entrance was a small brass plaque.
LYDIA MOORE FOUNDATION
TRUTH SHOULD NEVER BELONG ONLY TO THE POWERFUL.
Liam stood behind the podium.
He had prepared a speech.
Then folded it.
“My mother never got to raise me,” he said.
The room became silent.
“But she spent the last months of her life trying to make sure I would someday know that she wanted me.”
He looked at Nora.
“One mother gave me life.”
Then Robert.
“One father lost me without knowing I was alive.”
Then Sarah and Olivia.
“And one family had to learn that truth can hurt without destroying love.”
Liam smiled.
“This building exists for people who are still searching.”
After the ceremony Robert walked upstairs.
Inside Liam’s office sat the original photograph of Lydia holding him.
Robert stared at it.
“I wish she could see you.”
Liam stood beside him.
“Maybe the important part is that I finally see her.”
Robert nodded.
May you like
For once grief did not separate father and son.
They carried it together.
