Gabriel looked at me and said, “Dad, I have to go. We’ll never see each other again.”
The woman introduced herself as Patricia, his school counselor.
Then she told me something that knocked the air from my lungs.
For thirteen years, Gabriel had been turning down opportunities.
Summer programs. Academic camps. National debate competitions.
He was at the top of his class.
Teachers had encouraged him to apply to programs out of state. He refused every time.
Because he didn’t want to leave me.
He thought I couldn’t handle it.
The Secret He Carried
Gabriel had learned early how much I feared losing people.
He believed leaving for opportunities would be a betrayal.
Patricia explained that he had recently received a full scholarship to Stanford — tuition, housing, books, everything covered.He had planned to decline it.
