Chapter 21 - My mother asks the hardest question
My mother, Joan Bennett, asked:
“Why didn’t Emma tell you sooner?”
I hated the question.
Then realized she was not blaming Emma.
She was asking about us.
I asked Emma directly.
She typed:
YOU BUSY
That hurt.
I had become a judge eight months earlier.
Long days.
New docket.
Public attention.
I came home tired.
I still asked:
“How was school?”
Emma often pressed:
FINE
I accepted it.
Why?
Because “fine” let me believe I was balancing everything.
Then she typed:
YOU GET MAD FAST
I looked away.
Not at her.
At myself.
She had watched me respond fiercely to problems.
That made me protective.
It also made me intimidating.
If telling me about bullying meant explosion, she might choose silence.
I asked:
“Were you afraid I would make it worse?”
May you like
She nodded.
That changed how I parented more than any court order.
