The second spring came, and with it the foundation's second full audit, published in April on the website, with every dollar accounted for. It was a small document this time. No scandals. Salaries, grants, rent, the scholarship list, the dinner. Eleanor, now retired, wrote me a note that said: Boring. Perfect.
The scholarship gave fourteen grants that year. I met all fourteen girls at a reception in the office, and each of them brought someone, a mother or a grandmother or a sister, and the room was loud in a way it had never been when the board was there. Danielle came back and spoke again, and this time she brought her mother, who stood in the corner with a plate of cookies and cried.
In May, the foundation held its dinner. I gave a speech that was three minutes long, and this time I u
