Chapter 22 - Eleanor
Lily chose to see Eleanor six months later.
Not Robert yet.
Why Grandma first?
“I want to know why she hit you.”
The meeting was shorter.
Eleanor looked fragile in a way I had never seen.
No pearl necklace.
No audience.
Lily sat beside me.
“Grandma.”
“Hi, sweetheart.”
“Don’t call me sweetheart yet.”
Eleanor nodded.
“Okay.”
Lily asked:
“Why did you slap Mom?”
“Because I wanted her to stop reacting.”
“Reacting to me being in water?”
“Yes.”
“That’s stupid.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you look at dress?”
Eleanor cried.
“Because I had spent my life caring too much what things looked like.”
“What about what happened?”
“I cared less than I should have.”
“Did you love me?”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
Eleanor struggled.
Finally:
“Because love without good choices can still hurt people.”
Lily looked at me.
Again, a good answer.
Then she asked:
“Do you hate Mom because she has more money than you?”
I nearly choked.
Eleanor laughed unexpectedly.
“No.”
“Grandpa did.”
“I think Grandpa hated that she didn’t need him.”
Interesting.
“And you?”
“I hated that she stopped needing my approval.”
There.
My mother finally understood herself.
Lily said:
“I don’t need your approval either.”
Eleanor smiled sadly.
“I know.”
No hug.
At end, Lily said:
“Maybe lunch next year.”
Eleanor cried after we left.
I learned from her therapist? No need.
No manipulation.
She did not call asking for date.
Good.
Robert’s meeting happened later.
He apologized for grabbing Lily and trying to erase video.
Lily asked:
“Would you still delete it if you could?”
He said:
“No.”
“How do I know?”
“I can’t prove what I’d do in the past. I can only stop asking you to trust me now.”
Another adult finally learning.
She did not forgive fully.
May you like
She allowed annual cards.
That was enough.
