Chapter 21
Life had a way of surprising us.
Just when I thought I knew what the future held, something new would come along.
When the children were in their second year of college, Marcus and I decided to start a foundation in Eleanor's name.
The Eleanor Reynolds Foundation.
Its mission was to support single parents.
To provide childcare, education grants, and financial assistance to people who were going through what I'd gone through.
People who were raising children alone.
People who needed a helping hand.
Marcus and I poured our time and energy into the foundation.
It gave us purpose.
It allowed us to honor Eleanor's memory.
And it allowed us to give back to the community that had supported us through the hard years.
The foundation grew.
We helped hundreds of families.
We changed lives.
And I knew Eleanor would have been proud.
One day, I received a call from Daniel.
He'd heard about the foundation.
He wanted to make a substantial donation.
In Eleanor's name.
"I want to help," he said. "I want to do something good. Something that matters. In her memory."
I was surprised.
But also touched.
"That would mean a lot, Daniel. Thank you."
He donated generously.
And he didn't stop there.
He got involved.
He attended fundraisers.
He volunteered his time.
He used his connections to help the foundation grow.
It was strange, working with Daniel after everything we'd been through.
But it was also good.
We were both different people now.
Older.
Wiser.
Less angry.
We'd both found peace.
And we were both committed to honoring the woman who'd brought us together, in her own complicated way.
The children were proud of us.
Proud that we could put the past behind us.
Proud that we could work together for a good cause.
Noah told me once, "I always hoped you two could be friends. It makes me happy to see it."
Friends.
I guess that's what we were.
Not close friends.
Not the kind who call each other every day.
But friends.
People who shared a history.
Who shared four amazing children.
Who'd both been hurt, and both had healed.
And who were now working together to make the world a little better.
It was funny how life worked out.
The man who'd once been my greatest enemy was now my partner in philanthropy.
The woman who'd once been just my ex-husband's mother was now the inspiration for everything we did.
And the scared twenty-two-year-old girl who'd been abandoned while pregnant was now the head of a successful company and a foundation that helped hundreds of people.
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Life was full of surprises.
And I was grateful for every single one of them.
