Chapter 22 - Cordelia’s apology Her first apology was terrible.
I’m sorry you felt excluded.
Rejected.
Second:
I’m sorry the seating change upset you.
Rejected.
Her therapist apparently did useful work.
The third came five months after the wedding.
We allowed Bram to hear it only after reviewing it ourselves.
Cordelia sat across from him in a family therapist’s office.
She said:
“Bram, I moved your name away from the family table because I wanted photographs arranged without your wheelchair.”
He stared at her.
She continued:
“I told myself I was making the pictures look formal. What I actually did was make you feel like you did not belong.”
Bram said nothing.
“I also pushed your chair after you told me no.”
She looked directly at him.
“Your chair is part of how you move. I had no right to move you because I wanted you somewhere else.”
Then:
“I was wrong.”
Bram asked:
“Do you still think my chair is ugly?”
Cordelia’s face broke.
“No.”
“Did you?”
Long pause.
“I thought it made photographs look different from the kind I wanted.”
Six-year-old Bram answered:
“So yes.”
The therapist did not rescue Cordelia.
Neither did we.
Cordelia whispered:
May you like
“Yes.”
That honesty mattered more than a prettier answer.
