“
And then I got it. Dan didn’t need me to bake cakes, or entertain his uncle, or dress up, or field his mother’s expectations, or make his sisters feel important, or chit-chat nicely to his relations. He just needed me to be there. Because when I was with him, it made it easier for him to be with his family. To be able to point across a room and say, “She’s with me,” to his Uncle Patrick, his mother, his cousins, but most important, to himself.
”
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