Chapter 23 - BETHANY’S LETTERBethany was allowed to send a letter after nearly a year.
Not directly.
Through attorneys.
Julia and I read it first.
The beginning annoyed me.
I am sorry Rosie experienced fear at Caleb’s birthday.
Experienced fear.
Passive language.
Then later:
I believed I was teasing her.
Still slippery.
Then something changed.
Perhaps therapy.
Perhaps lawyers refusing to let her hide.
Rosie told me to stop. I did not stop.
Good.
I put the toy suction cups on her arms because I wanted to prove she was overreacting.
Better.
When she called me mean, I struck her cheek.
Accurate.
I was angry at Daniel, afraid my marriage was ending, and drinking. None of those things made Rosie responsible for my behavior.
I stopped reading.
Julia said:
“That’s the first honest paragraph.”
Bethany also wrote:
Aaron had the right to take his daughter away. My mother should not have blocked him. My father should not have thrown the glass. Aaron should not have hit me, but my wrongdoing does not disappear because he did.
That sentence surprised me.
Did Rosie read the letter?
Not then.
She was five.
An apology belongs to the harmed person.
May you like
So does timing.
We kept it.
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