Chapter 29
Jared remained mostly outside our lives.
That boundary never changed.
Years later, I heard through Sarah’s brother that he had completed required counseling and eventually stopped drinking.
I hoped that was true.
Not for my sake.
For everyone else who might cross his path.
But rehabilitation did not create an obligation for Lily to reconnect with him.
Some doors can remain closed without hatred.
That was another lesson our family learned.
One evening when Lily was sixteen, she asked me about him.
“Do you hate Uncle Jared?”
I considered the question.
“No.”
She looked surprised.
“Really?”
“I hated what he did.”
“That’s different?”
“Yes.”
I leaned back.
“If I spend the rest of my life hating him, he still gets space in my life.”
Lily thought about that.
“So you just don’t care?”
“Not exactly.”
“What then?”
“I hope he becomes better. From a very long distance.”
She laughed.
“That sounds like Mom.”
“She’s smarter than me.”
“I know.”
“Hey.”
She grinned.
Then her expression grew serious.
“I barely remember that dinner now.”
I felt something shift in my chest.
“Really?”
“I remember parts.”
She tapped her temple.
“Mostly I remember you carrying me.”
I could not speak for a second.
May you like
All those years, I had feared she would remember the floor.
Instead, she remembered being lifted from it.
