My throat tightened slightly.
“What does that have to do with Mom?”
“The letter was forwarded through the proper offices.
Eventually someone asked permission to use part of it in an internal leadership program.”
General Harrington nodded.
“I remember that.”
I looked at him.
“You never told me.”
“You would have complained.”
“That is possible.”
He smiled.
Mrs. Alvarez continued.
“Several years later, your mother contacted me.”
I stared at her.
“How?”
“She attended a military family event where someone mentioned Lantern Bridge without giving your name.
Your mother recognized details you had shared privately with her.”
That sounded exactly like Mom.
She had possessed an extraordinary ability to assemble truth from fragments without demanding the missing pieces.
“She asked one of the organizers whether the older woman mentioned in the leadership story could receive a letter.
Eventually the letter reached me.”
Sofia smiled.
“My mother and your mother became pen pals.”
