“What’s your name?” Annabelle asked with a gentleness that wouldn’t even cause a ripple on still water.

“Emily,” the woman choked out through her sobs. It broke me.

“See that hotel, Emily?” I asked. I pointed to a standard businessman’s travel hotel across the street. “We’re going to get you set up there for the night or for however long it takes for the Sunshine House to find you something more permanent. Would that be all right?”

She sobbed some more then she gave me a suspicious look. “Why? Why would you help me?”

I glanced down at Elijah, who was openly crying in relief as he pressed his cheek to the top of his baby sister’s head.

“Because I’ve lived your life. I’ve walked in your shoes,” I said. She gave me a doubtful look, and I pushed aside my usual reluctance to talk about my past. I knew Annabelle was listening, and I didn’t even have the capacity to feel the usual shame I harbored about my childhood. It was nothing compared to the moral imperative I felt to get this family to safety.

“When I was his age.” I jutted my chin in Elijah’s direction. “My parents were junkies, and they abandoned me and my sister, leaving us to fend for ourselves most days. I was homeless, scared, hungry, because my parents were more interested in their next fix than they were in being parents. I was completely alone and there was no one reaching out to help me or my baby sister.”

I paused to shove aside all the memories that were so thick, they were suffocating me. “I’m telling you, you can climb out of it, but you’re going to have to be very brave. Can you do that, Emily? Can you do that for them?” I asked.

That got through. Emily glanced at her children and nodded. Annabelle stepped forward, herding the mother and her children to the crosswalk. I brought up the rear, hoping my body didn’t decide that this was the perfect moment to collapse like a wet noodle. I didn’t have Jackson. I didn’t have my wheelchair. I started to feel the panic rise. Instead of dwelling on it, I stared at Elijah, still carrying his baby sister. I would not fail him. Not now.

The hotel associate was happy to take my card and keep it open. We walked the family of three to their small suite, and I scrawled my personal number on the back of the Sunshine House card and told Emily and Elijah to call me if they needed anything. Meanwhile, Annabelle managed to finagle the kitchen into sending some food up to their room.