Sometimes he felt lonely.
Sometimes he wondered whether his dreams were unrealistic.
But whenever he wanted to give up, he remembered the courtroom.
He remembered strangers placing money on a table.
He remembered a judge looking at him not as a criminal, but as a child who still had a future.
And he continued.
At eighteen, Adam graduated near the top of his class.
His mother attended the ceremony.
She was still recovering her strength, but she insisted on being there.
When Adam walked across the stage to receive his diploma, she stood and applauded until tears blurred her vision.
Afterward, he found her waiting near the school entrance.
“Are you proud of me?” he asked.
She laughed through her tears.
“I was proud of you long before today.”
Adam hugged her tightly.
A few months later, he received a scholarship offer from a university with a strong pre-law program.
