At My Husband’s Funeral, a Teenage Boy I Had Never Seen Before Walked up to Me and Said, ‘He Promised You’d Take Care of Me’

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On the drive to the lawyer’s office, a memory surfaced.

It was about eight months before Daniel died. We were washing dishes together when he asked, almost casually, “How would you feel about taking guardianship of a child someday?”

I had laughed. “Out of nowhere? Why?”

“I don’t know,” he said with a small smile. “We never had kids. Maybe we could help someone.”

A memory surfaced.

“I’d like that,” I had answered. “If we ever did it, I’d want to give a kid stability. Not just charity.”

He’d looked at me in a way I didn’t understand at the time: proud, relieved. Then he changed the subject.