Chapter 23 - BRIAN AND ELIBrian’s relationship with Eli was the hardest part.
Money was easy compared with an eleven-year-old asking:
“Why didn’t you want people to know I existed?”
There is no financial planner for that.
Brian asked if I would attend the first therapist-supported meeting.
Eli said no.
Good.
It was not about me.
Afterward Brian called.
“He asked if I was ashamed of him.”
“What did you say?”
“That I was ashamed of myself.”
“Good.”
“He said that wasn’t an answer.”
Even better.
“What did you say then?”
Brian went quiet.
“I told him I was afraid Mom and you would see me as a failure.”
“And?”
“He asked why that was his problem.”
I closed my eyes.
Elaine would have liked Eli.
That thought hurt less by then.
Brian continued:
“I said it wasn’t.”
There.
May you like
Accountability sometimes sounds almost disappointingly simple.
The hard part is saying it before fifteen explanations.
Related Stories
