Chapter 16 - Morwenna’s counterattack
My mother hired a lawyer.
Not because she had custody rights in the relocation case.
Because police and child-services inquiries concerned her behavior and because I blocked contact.
Her lawyer sent a letter accusing me of:
“weaponizing a single disciplinary disagreement to erase a longstanding grandparent relationship.”
She also supplied twenty-eight text messages from me.
Examples:
Can you grab Odelia Thursday? Huge meeting.
You’re a lifesaver.
She settles better with you than Nora.
Thank you for always being there.
All real.
Morwenna’s argument:
I trusted her completely until I discovered she supported Caroline’s relocation.
Therefore my sudden safety concerns were retaliatory.
Clever.
Partly plausible.
Then the videos.
The lunchbox.
Odelia’s statements.
Her own messages.
Those changed it.
But I still had to own something.
I had relied heavily on Morwenna while criticizing her involvement privately.
I let her become structurally important without clearly defining her authority.
If she suggested parenting choices I disliked, I sometimes ignored rather than confronting.
I benefited from the help.
Then was surprised she felt entitled to influence.
Entitlement remained hers.
Ambiguity was mine.
Dr. Brooks told me:
“Clarity earlier might have reduced conflict. It would not have justified what happened regardless.”
May you like
Both.
Again.
