Before he died, he had asked Emma not to let people remember him only as a sad photograph.
“Make sure they remember I was actually part of the class,” he had told her.
Emma smiled sadly at the cutout.
“I know this looks ridiculous. Felix probably would have made fun of it himself. But when the school wouldn’t let me include even a small picture, I didn’t know what else to do. So I made him big enough that nobody could overlook him.”
William stood quietly, holding the letter.
Finally, he approached the microphone.
“Emma, I owe you an apology. I treated your requests like scheduling problems instead of considering what I had promised your brother. I was wrong to dismiss you and embarrass you today. I’m sorry.”
He stepped aside.
“If you still want to walk with your brother, you may.”
Emma adjusted Felix’s graduation cap and carried him toward the stage.
