Chapter 25 - MY NIECE’S RECORD
At eighteen, my niece requested her complete Alden file.
Adult right.
She found the original fraudulent portfolio preserved in administrative records.
She called me.
“I want it destroyed.”
The school could not erase required records entirely.
But they could restrict access according to retention policy.
She hated that.
“Mom’s lies are in my school file.”
“Yes.”
“Forever?”
“No. Retention rules expire for some records. Others may remain archived.”
“It feels like she owns part of my story.”
I understood.
Then she did something braver.
She wrote her own statement for the file.
At age seven, I did not understand that materials from my cousin were being represented as mine. I later completed independent assessment and was admitted based on my own work.
Alden attached it.
Not rewriting history.
Adding her voice.
Then she asked Melisande to read it.
Melisande cried.
May you like
Did not ask for wording changes.
Progress.
