The Words That Held Him

When Marcus Davis was fourteen, after six years in the foster care system, a couple in Memphis named Robert and Elaine finally signed the adoption papers. In the courtroom, Robert knelt down, put both hands on the boy's shoulders, and said, "You are my son. You have always been my son." Marcus said later that something broke open inside him that day — like a door he had boarded shut suddenly swung wide.…