Barack: "Strange how a single conversation can change you. Or maybe it only seems that way in retrospect. A year passes and you know you feel differently, but you’re not sure what or why or how, so your mind casts back for something that might give that difference shape: a word, a glance, a touch... I had felt my voice returning to me that afternoon... I could feel it growing stronger, sturdier, that constant, honest portion of myself, a bridge between my future and my past."