Chapter 228

• I found Julian’s letter lying across the kitchen counter, curling slightly at the edges. The morning sun spilled in, lighting the soft lines of his handwriting, steady and deliberate as always. I sat down, feeling a quiet anticipation, wondering what thoughts had carried across the ocean to reach me.
• “You’ve shaped me more than I ever realized,” he wrote, his words calm but full of weight. I smiled, thinking of how patient he had been through every chaotic season, how he had carried my lessons with a seriousness that made me proud.
• He mentioned the collections, the archive, and even the Spring Drop. “Watching you create, seeing the care in every detail, taught me to approach life differently,” he said. I felt a swell of warmth, imagining him drawing, pausing to think, letting each moment guide him.