Questions I hated answering.
Sophie began speaking with a counselor.
I worried she would think something was wrong with her.
Instead, she surprised me.
After her third appointment, she climbed into the car and said:
“Mom, Ms. Karen says adults are responsible for their own big feelings.”
I smiled.
“She’s right.”
“So if Daddy gets really angry, I didn’t make him angry?”
“No.”
She thought about that.
“Even if I break something?”
“Even then.”
She looked through the window.
“Okay.”
One word.
But it sounded like a chain breaking.
Judith contacted me repeatedly.
Her first messages were furious.
Then defensive.
Then strangely polite.
Eventually she requested to see Sophie.
I said no.
Not forever.
But for now.
Judith responded:
“You have no right to keep my granddaughter from me.”
I stared at the word.
Granddaughter.
Interesting.
When Sophie needed compassion, Judith called her a brat.
When access became threatened, suddenly she was “my granddaughter.”
