Chapter 19 - STETSON AS A FATHER
Stetson earned unsupervised parenting slowly.
Not because I gifted forgiveness.
Professionals evaluated.
Cormac chose.
Behavior mattered.
He never used punishment involving confinement.
Never removed food for obedience.
Never said:
Grandma would want.
At twelve, Cormac broke a window throwing a baseball.
Stetson made him help pay from allowance and chores.
Cormac complained.
“Grandma would lock me up.”
Stetson went still.
Then:
“And that was abuse. Paying for a window you broke is a consequence.”
Cormac thought.
“Fair.”
Good.
Boundaries without cruelty.
At fourteen, Cormac asked:
“Why didn’t you punch Grandma?”
Stetson smiled sadly.
“Because violence wasn’t the thing I failed to do.”
“What was?”
“Open the door.”
The kennel door.
Again.
Simple.
Cormac nodded.
“Yeah.”
May you like
Stetson never tried to make his failure heroic.
That was why their relationship survived.
