When Eli Grant walked into Julie’s orbit and calmly revealed that he, Lani, and the twins were moving back to Salem, longtime Days of Our Lives viewers

didn’t gasp in shock. Instead, many felt something closer to relief. After years of brief visits, emotional cameos, and exits that never quite felt permanent,

the Grant family was finally coming home for real. And according to Sal Stowers, the woman behind Lani Price Grant, that return is not only deserved — it’s deeply personal.

In a recent reflection on stepping back into Salem full time, Stowers made it clear this isn’t a quick drop-in or nostalgic pit stop. This is a reclamation. Lani is back on her streets, among her people, carrying the full weight of everything she has done and everything it cost her.

For a character whose history includes love, loss, moral compromise, and prison bars, there is no such thing as a simple homecoming.

A Return Years in the Making

Lani and Eli may have been off canvas, but they were never truly gone. They hovered in the emotional geography of the show — referenced, remembered, summoned in times of family crisis. Weddings, funerals, emergencies: the Grants would appear, lend their strength, then slip away again.

This time is different.

The move back to Salem signals permanence. Roots instead of visits. A life rebuilt in the same town where it once shattered.

For viewers who have followed Lani from idealistic young officer to a woman forced into impossible decisions, the shift lands with enormous emotional power. Salem remembers what she did. Salem remembers why she did it. And Salem, being Salem, will never let her forget either.

No Rewriting the Past

If anyone expected Lani to glide back into town with a softened narrative or a convenient reset, Stowers has made it clear that’s not the story being told.

Lani returns shaped by incarceration, by the trauma of protecting her mother, and by the knowledge that doing the right thing can still destroy your life. Those experiences are not footnotes — they are carved into her.

Rather than chasing forgiveness or pleading for understanding, this version of Lani stands in ownership. She made choices. She survived them. Now she must live with them in the very place where they happened.

That emotional maturity changes the way she walks into every room. Old friends see the difference. Family members feel it. Even her marriage to Eli carries the imprint of everything they endured while fighting to hold their family together.

A Blessing Behind the Scenes

For Stowers, returning carries meaning beyond plot twists and screen time. The actress has spent more than a decade growing up alongside this cast, forging relationships that blur the line between colleague and family.

Coming back isn’t just about revisiting a role; it’s about reconnecting with people who witnessed milestones in her life, both professional and personal.

She has spoken openly about feeling honored to rejoin the ensemble in a sustained way, describing the opportunity as a blessing. In an industry defined by uncertainty and constant movement, that kind of continuity is rare. To step back onto a familiar set and find history waiting for you is no small gift.

And that comfort bleeds into the work. Scenes feel lived in. Reunions carry genuine warmth. Conflicts hit harder because the performers share so much real memory beneath the fiction.

A Stronger, Harder Lani

What makes this return electric is the woman Lani has become.

She is no longer trying to prove herself. She knows exactly what she is capable of — both the heroism and the damage. There is a quiet steel to her now, a sense that she has already survived the worst thing that could happen.

That doesn’t mean Salem will be gentle.

Old wounds remain. Complicated histories with the DiMeras, unresolved grief, and lingering judgment from the community could all rise again. Yet Lani isn’t running. She’s planting her feet.

Her journey forward will not be about erasing the past but integrating it, building a future that acknowledges every scar.

Family at the Center

At the heart of the move is the Grant family unit. Eli, ever steady, has long been Lani’s anchor — the partner who believes in her even when the world struggles to. Their twins represent hope, innocence, and the reason both parents keep fighting for stability.

Bringing them back to Salem raises the stakes. This isn’t just about Lani’s redemption or reputation. It’s about the environment in which they will raise their children, the legacy they will hand down, and whether peace is truly possible in a town fueled by secrets.

Here to Stay

While official logistics may remain under wraps, the intent is unmistakable. Lani is not passing through for a handful of emotional beats. She is resuming her place in the canvas of Salem.

And that means new conflicts, deeper relationships, and long-awaited reckonings are on the horizon.

For fans who have invested in her from the beginning, the return feels earned — a payoff after years of absence and anticipation.

Lani Price Grant is home. Not unchanged, not unburdened, but unafraid.

In Salem, that might be the most powerful position of all.