Chapter 13 - Lily asks why Grandma chose Rachel
Lily’s cheek healed in days.
The harder injury took longer.
“Why did Grandma hug Rachel?”
We were coloring at the kitchen table when she asked.
“Grandma was upset.”
“I was crying.”
“I know.”
“She saw.”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
I wanted to give Judith a generous explanation.
Habit.
Shock.
Rachel was her daughter.
She saw blood at Rachel’s lip.
Then I realized generosity at Lily’s expense would teach the wrong lesson.
“Grandma made a bad choice.”
Lily looked at me.
“Does she like Rachel more?”
“Rachel is her daughter.”
“I’m not?”
“You’re her granddaughter by marriage.”
There.
The legal and biological fact Rachel had weaponized.
Then I added:
“But family relationships are not a contest where someone hurting you becomes okay because they are closer by blood.”
Lily colored for a while.
Then:
“Did you make bad choice too?”
The question hit me harder than Rachel’s slap ever could.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When I hit Rachel after you were already behind me.”
“Because mad?”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“Don’t.”
May you like
“I’m working on that.”
Children can accept accountability faster than adults when no one dresses it up.
