A stranger.
Now I saw him differently.
I pulled out a chair.
“Uncle Victor,” I said.
His eyes widened.
“Come sit down.”
I placed two bowls of soup on my mother’s worn kitchen table.
He hesitated.
“I can eat outside.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Emotion filled his eyes.
“You don’t eat outside anymore.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he slowly sat down.
The silver locket rested in his hands.
For the first time in twenty years, Victor’s meal didn’t leave through the back door.
It stayed at the table.
Right where family belonged.
