Chapter 25 - Miranda Apologizes to Daphne
The first apology letter arrived when Daphne was nine.
Her therapist reviewed it.
Then asked whether Daphne wanted it.
“No.”
We returned it unopened? Better preserved with therapist/attorney, not returned maybe.
A year later:
“Do you still have Miranda letter?”
“Yes.”
“Read?”
“If you want.”
She did.
It said:
Daphne,
At the wedding, I kicked you while you were standing near the staircase.
Direct.
“You fell because of what I did.”
There.
“I also said something cruel about your mother.”
There.
“Your mother’s death was one of the deepest losses in your life, and I used it to hurt you.”
Important.
Then:
“I told you that you would disappear after the wedding.”
There.
“I had been planning for you to spend several weeks with Aunt Elise and to change bedrooms after the baby came. Some of those changes could have been normal family decisions if your dad and you had been included.”
Good.
“I treated them as things I could decide because I believed your needs were interfering with the family I wanted.”
There.
“That was wrong.”
Then:
“Luca did not replace you. I was wrong to think a new baby should change your right to feel secure with your father.”
No request for contact.
No:
forgive me for your brother.
At the end:
“I am sorry.”
Daphne cried.
Then got angry that she cried.
“She doesn't get to make me cry again.”
“No.”
“What do I do?”
“Nothing, unless you want.”
She folded the letter.
Put it in desk drawer.
No response.
By the end of our story, that remained her decision.
Understanding was enough.
May you like
Access was not owed.
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