Chapter 8 - PATRICIA DID NOT GET TO BE GRANDMA ON DEMAND
Patricia began sending gifts when Lily was six months old.
Dresses.
Toys.
A silver bracelet engraved:
Grandma loves you.
I returned them.
Not because Lily was a weapon.
Because gifts are not accountability.
Then came letters.
The first blamed postpartum stress.
Mine.
The second blamed Daniel for “not managing both women properly.”
Returned.
The third was different.
I struck Emily.
I stopped reading for a moment.
Then continued.
I was angry at a crying newborn and at a mother who would not accept my authority.
Closer.
What happened to Lily was the result of what I did, even though I never intended for her to fall.
Truth.
Finally.
Then:
I understand that being her grandmother does not entitle me to contact.
That mattered most.
I kept the letter.
Not as a ticket back into our lives.
As evidence that Patricia could eventually say what happened without moving the blame elsewhere.
Whether that would ever be enough for contact was another question.
May you like
One Lily would someday help answer when she was old enough.
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