He didn’t ask where I had been. He just took two steps forward, wrapped his arms around me, and hugged me tighter than he ever had before. “You made it, Mom,” he whispered into my hair. “I made it,” I cried into his shoulder. “I’m here.” It took twenty-two years to learn that pride is the most expensive thing a person can own.

But it only took a few footsteps from a forgiving granddaughter to show me that grace is completely free. I walked down the aisle that day, took my seat in the second row, and watched my family begin again.