Chapter 13 - My Mother's Truth
Mom and I went to Daniel's grave.
The headstone still stood.
DANIEL JAMES WHITMORE.
BELOVED HUSBAND AND FATHER.
I laughed.
Mom didn't.
“I should have told you.”
“Yes.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“You were.”
She looked surprised.
“And hurting me.”
Both truths could exist.
“I spent seventeen years mourning someone alive.”
“I know.”
“I don't forgive that yet.”
She nodded.
“Okay.”
That answer helped.
No demand.
No justification.
No manipulation.
Just okay.
We eventually removed the headstone.
Not because Daniel wasn't alive.
Because the father described on it had never existed.
May you like
I didn't replace it.
Some graves don't need markers.
