they had never truly been ours to exploit.
We were only responsible for carrying them safely from one generation to the next.
My daughter-in-law had entered my office believing age made me weak, marriage made her powerful, and expectation made her an owner.
The documents proved otherwise.
But the harder lesson belonged to my son and me: secrecy can guard property, yet only truth can protect a family.
That afternoon, he took Maggie’s old index card from his pocket and placed it inside a new binder marked Next Thirty Years.
Then we walked back down the ridge together.
