“You know I’m going to leave again, right?” I blurted this to Jeremiah on the phone, one week before I was supposed to bring me and what is left of my belongings into his home, his life, his family.

He had to go. His mom… school… things needed his attention. After a few minutes later he called back. “Listen, that kinda hurt my feelings. But I want you to be happy. You can always come back here. This is homebase.” I suddenly felt a little less like an orphan.

I was honest with Steve. He could have had a hundred different responses when I told him I was going back to Texas, and that Jeremiah would be a part of my life. He could have tried to convince me to stay in Maine. He could have stopped talking to me all together.

I talked to Jeremiah about my fears of burdening Steve. “How could he not be ready to be done with this, after all he’s done for me?”

Jeremiah reassured me. “That man really cares about you.”

Of all the things Steve could have said, he certainly did not have to offer to drive me 1,800 miles and drop me off at Jeremiah's door. But that’s exactly what he did.