Chapter 24 - THE VIDEO SHE CHOSE NOT TO WATCH
Sadie was seven when she asked again.
“Can I watch pool video?”
We discussed.
Therapist.
Naomi.
Not because lawyers decide parenting.
Because evidence restrictions still existed.
The court allowed a supervised viewing of her own clip if clinically appropriate.
I told Sadie:
“You can.”
She sat on the couch.
Then asked:
“Does it show my hand?”
“Partly.”
“Does it show me cry?”
“Yes.”
“Does it show Uncle Derek?”
“Yes.”
“Does it show you throw him?”
“I took him down.”
She smiled.
“Throw.”
I let it go.
Then she looked at the blank television.
“No.”
“You don’t want to?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
“Can I later?”
“Yes.”
She never asked again that year.
Choice mattered even when the choice was not to know more.
We stored a legally permitted copy through counsel, inaccessible without process.
Not family entertainment.
Not dinner-party proof.
No one would pull it up years later to say:
May you like
Remember when?
Trauma is not nostalgia.
