Grace read it twice.
“I didn’t ask you to do this.”
“No.”
“Why now?”
“Because I should have done it when he was alive.”
She touched the page.
“This doesn’t change what happened.”
“No.”
“It doesn’t give him those years back.”
“No.”
Grace looked at Arthur.
“Then why does it matter?”
Arthur thought carefully.
“Because records outlive people. And when the record is wrong, leaving it wrong becomes another choice.”
Grace looked at the page again.
Then she nodded.
“Thank you.”
Arthur looked almost startled.
I think it was the first time she had thanked him for something connected to Dad.
In January, Grace started her prerequisite classes.
Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Helen helped with transportation.
Mrs. Alvarez sometimes stayed with us.
Arthur attempted homework once.
Grace banned him after he confidently gave her the wrong answer to a biology question.
“I build transportation systems,” he protested.
