He’d sit beside her stroller drawing pictures, bring her dandelions from our yard, and make her laugh harder than anyone.
A month before Lucy’s second birthday, Noah spotted a tiny red dress in a store window.
“Mom, Lucy would look like a princess in that.”
I explained that Rachel wasn’t planning to celebrate Lucy’s birthday that year, because she’d spent all her money on Lucy’s expensive developmental therapies.
But Noah didn’t forget the dress.
For weeks, I noticed him turning down money for treats and offering to rake the neighbors’ leaves.
What I didn’t know was that he’d also quietly stopped buying lunch at school — saving the money I gave him, and telling me every evening that he’d eaten.
By the time I found out, he’d saved enough.
