“My 76-Year-Old Grandpa Took Me Into the Woods Every Day and Made Me Undress Until I Was Half-Naked. But One Day, My Mother Secretly Followed Us and Heard Strange Screams Coming From Deep Inside the Forest. When She Got Closer and Saw What We Were Actually Doing, Her Heart Couldn’t Take It. She Fell to Her Knees and Burst Into Tears…”

Neither of them tried to speak.

They simply held each other and cried.

I stood near the trees, watching my mother cling to the friend she had mourned without ever knowing whether she had truly lost her.

Grandpa came to stand beside me.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

I looked at him.

“For what?”

“For putting you in the middle of this.”

I swallowed.

“Why didn’t you just tell Mom?”

He watched the two women embrace.

“Because I wanted this to be a surprise. I thought that if I could bring Mary back to the place where their friendship began, your mother might finally let go of the guilt she has carried all these years.”

“But you knew I was frightened.”

His eyes filled with tears.

“Yes. I knew you were afraid of the water. I thought that helping you face it gradually would make the work easier for you, but I should have listened more carefully when you told me how difficult it was becoming.”