I Bought the School Janitor New Boots After Seeing His Taped-up Soles – I Couldn’t Stop Crying When He Showed up at My Front Door That Night

He nodded slowly. “All right.”

“You don’t have to wear these to honor Catherine.”

I placed fresh marigolds beside Catherine’s picture and turned back to him.

“You don’t need to do any of this alone anymore. If you want, you can think of me as your daughter.”

Harris sat down hard in the nearest chair and covered his face. Dan crouched beside him. I wrapped my arms around Harris’s shoulders, and the three of us stayed there while the late afternoon light turned gold on the floorboards.

The following Sunday, we took marigolds to Catherine’s resting place. Harris wore the new boots. The old pair waited safely at home in a box lined with tissue, Catherine’s store note still tucked inside one of the boots.

We stood together in the winter sun, and after a while Harris smiled at the flowers.

“She would’ve loved this,” he said.

I squeezed his arm. “I think she does.”

“If you want, you can think of me as your daughter.”