Melissa focused on her son and put her finger on the picture as if he might be able to feel her touch. She opened the note and read.

Dear Melissa and Brian,

We can’t believe this is our last letter. It seems even harder to write than the first. We don’t feel like we have said thank you enough.

This year has been the greatest of our life. Not necessarily the easiest. There’ve been lots of adjustments and it has gone by much too quickly.

We will always be open with David about his adoption. We look forward to your last letter and to sharing it with him.

Sincerely,

Susan and Jimmy Colton

Somehow the words rang hollow. They were fine on the page and pushed all the buttons, but this letter was shorter than the others and didn’t share many details. It felt like Susan and Jimmy were glad to be moving on and the letter was the final cutting of the umbilical cord.

And what did Susan mean by “not necessarily the easiest”? Were there physical problems with David? Had their family been through something they hadn’t told her about?

Melissa studied the picture again. David’s nose and mouth looked a lot like Brian’s. His eyes were hers. And in every picture he seemed to have a beaming smile, the proverbial happy baby.

She had so many questions but decided to push them aside. As she balanced her notebook on the arm of her chair, she wrote a response in red ink. From early on her teachers had commented on how neat her papers were, the way she printed her letters. She let the words flow but decided to keep the letter brief.

Jimmy and Susan,

I can’t believe it’s been almost a year. I know it will be the last update. It just doesn’t seem possible. But I understand that we will have to get on with our lives. I cannot make out like I don’t miss David because there’s still a part of me that feels empty. I’m just glad that we chose you two.

I’ll be praying for David as he grows up. We know he’ll have everything he needs. We think of you guys every day. Thank you for sending the pictures.

Love,

Melissa

She didn’t sign Brian’s name because the letter wasn’t from him. In fact, he didn’t seem to want anything to do with them. She’d shown him pictures of his son but he had looked at them quickly and handed them back without much reaction. He had actually told her that he’d be glad when the letters and pictures stopped.

“Why is that?” she said.

“So we can get this behind us. We need to move on.”