"What is this," Ben asked softly, pressing against my leg as we entered the monastery grounds. It was too soon, I scolded myself. It would be a reminder of the time he was in Thailand with Aston. And even before that, while he lived with the Thai family on Aston's payroll.
He was looking up, his eyes wide, at the buildings that surrounded the courtyard. As always, Sayadaw Tayza walked toward us, the same serene expression on his face. "This is your son," he said.
"Sayadaw," I said, bowing my head. "This is Ben. My son." I handed him our token offering to the monks, and his eyes caught mine.
"I am happy to see you here, Meia," he said. "I wondered if you were well."
"I was not well for a while," I admitted. "I was lost."
"But you are no longer lost," he said.
I nodded, holding Ben's hand in mine.
I was home. I was found. I knew it was a long road, the one that stretched out ahead of me, for me and for Ben. I wasn't under some kind of delusion that everything was going to be sunshine and rose petals from here on out. Nothing in my life had been that way.
Until Hammer had given me hope. He had stepped into the darkness that surrounded me, that ate away at me from the inside, and he had joined me. I was no longer alone.
HAPPINESS
There is balm for the wounded, and there is bread for the hungry. There is water for the thirsty, and there is hope for the despairing. There is light for those in darkness...
~ The Gospel of Buddha, Carus' translation