Chapter 8 - IDA FINALLY WROTE TO LILY
Two years passed.
No contact.
Then a letter arrived addressed directly to Lily.
We did not give it to her immediately.
We read it first.
That was part of protecting a child.
Ida wrote:
Lily, I spent years believing that because you were not born into my family, I did not owe you the same love or respect I would have owed a biological grandchild.
I stopped.
Better than anything before.
Then:
That belief made me cruel.
No excuse.
I destroyed your dress because I thought if I ruined enough symbols of belonging, eventually Glen would see you as temporary.
My throat tightened.
There it was.
Truth.
Instead, I proved that I was the person making myself temporary.
Glen looked away.
The letter continued:
I do not expect you to call me Grandma. I do not expect a visit. I wanted you to know what happened was my fault, not yours.
We asked Lily if she wanted to read it.
“Yes.”
She did.
Then folded it.
“Do I have to answer?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She put it in her desk.
That was all.
May you like
Forgiveness did not need to happen on schedule.
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