“Their expressions were concerned, but otherwise indecipherable, and my throat seized with another hiccup as I managed, “I’m s-sorry I didn’t tell you earlier – ” I was cut off midsentence when my mother wrapped her arms around me, so tightly that the air whooshed out of my lungs, and she spoke gruffly into my ear. “I love you. I will always love you and support you, no matter what. No matter what.”
