Chapter 13 - My Mother’s Folder
Bernice had a folder.
Of course.
I found out during family mediation months later.
She called it:
ELodie Health Pattern.
Inside:
Calendar dates.
School absences.
My canceled business trips.
Symptoms.
Hospital visits.
Screenshots of texts.
Videos.
She had been documenting for eight months.
I felt violated.
Then read.
Some entries were factual.
March 4 — stomachache morning of Griffin Chicago trip. Stayed home.
March 19 — “heart racing” after Griffin said overnight travel next week.
April 2 — normal at brunch, later too tired for soccer.
May 6 — school nurse calls after fainting.
Bernice highlighted only certain patterns.
Symptoms near separation from Dad.
The human brain loves patterns when someone provides yellow marker.
But then:
June 10 — lips pale/blue after running. Griffin took to urgent care.
No highlight.
June 22 — tachycardia recorded by school nurse.
No highlight.
July 14 — oxygen saturation low in ER.
No highlight.
Contradictory data remained.
She did not delete it.
She simply weighted what confirmed her theory.
That made her less calculating than I had imagined.
More dangerous in another way.
She sincerely believed herself objective.
May you like
Confirmation bias wearing pearls.
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