I didn’t think much of the trip until I got a call I couldn’t ignore. Walking into the school the next day, I had no idea what my son had set in motion.
I’m Sarah, 45, and raising Leo on my own has taught me what quiet strength looks like.
He’s 12 now. Kind in ways most people don’t notice right away. He feels everything, but he doesn’t talk much. Not since his dad passed away three years ago.
He doesn’t talk much.
Last week, my son came home from school different.
There was energy in him. Not loud or bouncing off the walls. Just… lit up.
He dropped his backpack by the door and, with a rare sparkle in his eyes, said, “Sam wants to go too… but they told him he can’t.”
I paused in the kitchen. “You mean to the hiking trip?”
He nodded.
Continued on the next page
