Chapter 17 - Lauren’s explanation
Lauren cried through most of her mediation.
That did not make her more innocent.
It made her Lauren.
She said she took the Social Security card because she feared I would:
“Disappear into Martin’s system.”
“What does that mean?”
“You were closing everything.”
“I was revoking your access.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
“You stopped letting me help.”
“Yes.”
“After everything I did.”
“Help is not ownership.”
She cried harder.
Then:
“You never appreciated me.”
That landed.
Because partly true.
Denise was the impressive one.
Career.
Sales.
Confidence.
Lauren drifted.
I worried.
Compared.
Sometimes openly.
When she helped after Henry died, I accepted it as though care were simply what the less-busy daughter should do.
That was unfair.
I said:
“I should have thanked you more.”
She looked up.
“But?”
“But that does not authorize taking money.”
Her face hardened.
“There’s always a but.”
“Because both things are true.”
She told me Paris had been planned as:
“The first thing Denise and I had done for ourselves in years.”
Maybe.
They had helped me.
Henry’s illness.
Estate.
House sale.
My fall.
That work was real.
May you like
But when they thought I could no longer provide anything, resentment turned cruel.
That was also real.
