Chapter 25 - Cordelia’s Apology Without Defense
Three years after the wedding, Cordelia wrote Bram another letter.
He was nine.
Old enough to read it himself.
She wrote:
Bram,
At Julian and Olivia’s wedding, I moved your seat because I wanted photographs arranged a certain way.
I canceled an accessibility ramp because I cared about how the terrace looked.
I told myself I was protecting the event and protecting you from attention.
That was not true.
I was protecting an image I wanted.
When you resisted, I pushed your wheelchair anyway.
Your wheelchair is part of your personal space, and I had no right to move you after you said no.
I also had no right to decide that your family should be photographed without the chair that lets you move independently.
You were never the problem in that picture.
My decision was.
I am sorry.
You do not owe me forgiveness, a hug, or a reply.
Love,
Grandma
Bram read it.
Then said:
“This one better.”
I asked:
“Better than what?”
“First sorry.”
“What was wrong with first?”
“She talked too much.”
Fair.
May you like
He put the letter in a drawer.
Not a shrine.
