I didn’t understand mercy until I saw it through bulletproof glass.
I’m Marcus Williams. I went to prison for armed robbery at twenty-three. A day after my daughter was born, my wife Ellie died. I couldn’t hold her, say goodbye, or protect our child from the foster system.
Then a stranger, Thomas Crawford, appeared. He’d been with Ellie in her final hours and promised to keep our daughter, Destiny, safe. A biker and volunteer at the hospital, he fought the system, gained custody, and—most unbelievably—brought Destiny to visit me every week behind that glass for three years.
I watched her first smiles, laughs, and recognition of me—all because one man kept a promise to a dying mother. He didn’t owe us anything, yet he gave everything: a bridge, hope, and proof that promises can still mean something.
That’s what mercy looks like.