Chapter 18 - JESSICA’S LETTER
Jessica’s first letter was bad.
I read it when the girls were older.
I never meant for a silly joke to become the defining moment of our family.
No.
Still minimizing.
I filed it away.
Three years later another arrived.
I threw the food because I was angry that Emily had begun asking questions and because I wanted the room to understand I still controlled the tone of the family.
Better.
Then:
I used the children because I believed hurting Emily through them would make her stop challenging us.
There.
Ugly.
True.
Olivia read it at sixteen.
Megan declined.
Olivia said:
“Do I have to answer?”
“No.”
She did not.
At twenty-one, she chose one mediated meeting with Jessica.
Megan never did.
Different children.
Different boundaries.
Jessica told Olivia:
“I loved being the person everyone tried to please.”
Olivia asked:
“More than being Grandma?”
Jessica cried.
“I acted like it.”
No hug.
No forgiveness declaration.
May you like
Twenty-four minutes.
Enough.
