I can hardly believe it’s been 22 years since the night my dad left me behind. Even as a two-year-old, the memory of his whispered apology and the sight of his retreating figure is etched into my mind.

My mom had walked out on us a year before that, leaving my grandparents as the only family I had left. They found me the next morning, bundled up and shivering on their doorstep.

The shock of discovering me was overwhelming, but their immediate reaction was love. They vowed to give me everything I needed, and they never broke that promise.