Chapter 12 - The Empty Chair at Thanksgiving
The second Thanksgiving without Leo nearly broke me.
I set the table for four out of habit.
Then stared at the extra plate.
Susan gone.
Leo gone.
My sister Ellen saw me freeze.
“Leave it,” she said.
So we did.
Leo’s chair remained empty.
But after dinner, the doorbell rang.
Maya stood outside.
Behind her were Tyler, Noah, Frank, Caleb and nearly twenty Ladder volunteers.
“What is this?”
Maya smiled.
“Your son started something.”
They carried food.
Photographs.
Letters.
Stories.
One by one, people read messages from families the project had helped.
A mother whose daughter found an apprenticeship.
A veteran who returned to work.
A young father who got counseling.
A college graduate who finally stopped calling herself worthless.
I cried through all of it.
Then Noah handed me a framed photograph.
It showed the Ladder office.
Underneath:
LEO MERCER COMMUNITY CENTER — COMING SOON
I looked at Maya.
“What did you do?”
“We raised enough.”
“For what?”
“A building.”
I couldn’t speak.
“You wanted his idea to have a home,” she said.
May you like
Then she handed me the keys.
---
