Chapter 25 - What We Protected
My parents tried to reach out a few more times.
Mom sent long messages filled with guilt and excuses. Dad called once and left a voicemail saying he “never meant for things to get this bad.”
But neither of them ever said the words Grace needed to hear.
They never said: “We’re sorry we didn’t protect you.”
They never said: “What Lauren did was wrong.”
They only talked about how hard this was for them. How the family was broken. How I was being too harsh.
I stopped answering.
One evening, Grace asked me, “Do you think Grandma and Grandpa will ever say sorry?”
I thought about it carefully before answering.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Some people can’t admit when they’re wrong because it hurts too much. But that doesn’t mean you have to wait for them.”
Grace nodded.
“I don’t think I want to wait anymore,” she said.
I smiled and kissed the top of her head.
“Then we won’t.”
That night, I took the broken glasses out of the folder and put them in a small box. I didn’t throw them away. I just put them somewhere I wouldn’t see them every day.
They had served their purpose.
May you like
They had helped me see clearly.
Now it was time to move forward.
