Chapter 23 - Claire’s Letter
Claire wrote to me four years later.
Daniel,
I spent a long time telling myself I was punished for one slap.
Then:
That was easier than admitting the slap was the visible part of something I had been doing for months.
She wrote about resentment.
Money.
Caregiving.
Feeling second to Anna’s memory.
Feeling second to Lily’s illness.
None excuses.
Then:
I created a version of Lily in my head where she was manipulative and difficult because that made my cruelty feel like discipline.
That sentence mattered.
She asked me not to send letter to Lily unless therapist thought useful.
May you like
I did not.
Not then.
