Chapter 23 - JOSEPHINE MEETS ROBERT AGAIN
Josephine was seventeen when she asked:
“Can I see Grandpa Robert?”
I stared.
“Why?”
“I want to ask about the reindeer.”
“You barely remember.”
“I remember the story.”
That worried me.
Had I told it too often?
She said:
“I want his version.”
Fair.
We arranged supervised meeting.
Robert was older.
Smaller.
No chair at head of table.
Josephine sat across from him.
“Why did you give me trash?”
He looked at me.
She said:
“Don’t look at Dad.”
Good.
Robert answered:
“I was angry at your father.”
“So?”
“I wanted him to understand that walking away from family had consequences.”
“I was four.”
“Yes.”
“Did you think I was a consequence?”
He closed his eyes.
“No.”
“You treated me like one.”
“Yes.”
She asked:
“Did you love me?”
Robert said:
“I thought I did.”
That answer was better than certainty.
Then:
“I loved the version of family I wanted you to join.”
Josephine nodded.
“That’s not the same.”
“No.”
They met twice more that year.
Then she stopped.
May you like
No drama.
Enough.
