Chapter 19 - THE FAMILY MEMBERS WHO DEFEND THERESA
Some relatives defended her.
Not the kennel exactly.
The context.
“She raised all of us.”
“She handled Audrey’s illness when Gabriele couldn’t.”
“She paid staff.”
“She kept Nora on schedule.”
“She made one terrible mistake.”
Maybe.
Then another cousin said:
“Children today call everything trauma.”
I ended the conversation.
Not with threats.
“Do not discuss Nora that way around me.”
He apologized later.
Another aunt said:
“If Theresa goes to jail, Audrey will feel guilty.”
Audrey responded herself.
“My cancer is not a defense for what Theresa did.”
Good.
Then the biggest pressure:
Forgive before trial.
For family unity.
No.
Forgiveness, if it came, would not be negotiated by committee.
Theresa’s useful history remained true.
So did the kennel.
We did not need to erase one to honor the other.
That complexity bothered people.
May you like
Families like saints and villains.
Reality rarely cooperates.
