The Lilac Tunnel: My Journey with Samantha

I finally tell Samantha about my stepmom and stepsister, my voice a whisper, that the family waiting in Plattsburgh is really Dad and his new wife and daughter, watching her face for surprise.

Instead, it softens. Change can be hard, she says, but sometimes good, too, since without it there’d be no butterflies. We smile at each other in the dark, and she moves her pillow closer, resting beside me under the stars. Change can be good, like meeting new friends. Like us.

A streak of light crosses the sky above, a shooting star. That’s my sign, she says, that the changes ahead will be good ones. I close my eyes, listening to the night around us, and wish that, like her, I can keep my heart open to whatever changes my family still holds.