He nodded.
“Good.”
He didn’t ask whether Lily would thank him.
He didn’t ask whether she would cry.
He simply wanted to know that what he had given would be useful.
Several weeks later, the organization contacted us.
The wig had been completed, using Ethan’s donated hair alongside additional matching hair, and arrangements were made for Lily to receive it.
Ethan insisted on helping present it to her.
We arranged a visit when Lily was feeling well enough.
I will never forget the expression on her face when she opened the box.
For several seconds, she didn’t say anything.
She lifted the wig carefully, as if she were afraid that touching it too roughly might somehow make it disappear.
Then she looked at Ethan.
“Is this really from your hair?”
“Some of it,” he said. “They had to add more. Apparently, my head isn’t as enormous as I thought.”
She laughed, but her eyes filled with tears.
