He was five years older than me, kind, thoughtful with his words, and already carrying a burden so heavy that most people would have run from it.
The man had 10 children.
Yes, 10!
His wife had sadly passed away two years earlier, and he was raising all of them alone.
The first time I saw him was in a grocery store. He was trying to steer a cart overflowing with cereal boxes while keeping an eye on several children at once. In the middle of the chaos, a toddler reached her little arms toward me.
That toddler was Sophie.
“I’m sorry,” Robert said, lifting her into his arms. “She does that with anyone who smiles at her.”
“Then I suppose I’ll keep smiling,” I said.
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