And somehow that felt even better.
Afterward, a little girl approached me and asked if girls could become soldiers too.
I knelt in front of her.
“Yes,” I told her. “And they can still come home, even when someone tries to lock the door.”
That evening, I opened every window in Grandma’s house and unpacked my duffel for the final time. At the bottom sat one letter I had never mailed.
Dear Mom and Dad, it began, I hope you’re proud of me.
I read it once, folded it carefully, and put it away.
Not because I was hiding anymore.
