Chapter 8 - HANNAH STOPPED ASKING PERMISSION
Recovery took weeks.
At first, Hannah asked me whether it was okay to order dinner.
Whether she could leave dishes overnight.
Whether Sophie could eat cereal instead of cooked breakfast.
Every question bothered me.
Not because of her.
Because someone had trained my wife to believe ordinary choices required approval.
One evening she said:
“Is it okay if I go lie down?”
I looked at her.
“Why are you asking?”
She froze.
Then started crying.
“I don’t know.”
That answer hurt.
I sat beside her.
“You don’t need permission to rest.”
She nodded.
The next week, she left dishes in the sink overnight.
I said nothing.
The world survived.
A month later, she bought takeout twice in one week.
Civilization remained intact.
May you like
Healing sometimes looks embarrassingly ordinary.
---
