I babysat my neighbor\u2019s daughter every weekend for four years\u2014then she moved away. Twenty years later, a sealed package arrived on my doorstep and revealed why she had disappeared from my life.<\/p>\n
I never had children of my own, but five-year-old Sophie became family. We baked cookies, built blanket forts, and made dinosaur pancakes. Before leaving each Sunday, she whispered, \u201cSee you next weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then her mother, Melissa, announced they were moving to Colorado for a new job. Calls and birthday cards eventually stopped. My letters came back, their phone was disconnected, and I spent two decades believing Sophie had forgotten me.<\/p>\n
Inside the mysterious package were our old friendship bracelet, a photograph, and a letter from Melissa. There had been no job. She had terminal cancer and moved to a cousin\u2019s home for treatment. Believing distance would protect us, she cut off contact and made Sophie promise to stay away.<\/p>\n
Moments after I read the letter, Sophie appeared at my door. She had never forgotten me. Returned letters and guardianship papers eventually revealed that I had wanted her all along.<\/p>\n
Now married with a six-year-old son, Oliver, Sophie came back to reconnect. When she hugged me goodbye, she whispered the words I had waited twenty years to hear: \u201cSee you next weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"