and possibility, but flowing inevitably forward toward horizons I was finally free to explore on my own terms.
“The worst mother anyone could have.”
Perhaps in Amber’s distorted perception.
But for myself, I had become something far more important: a woman who had finally learned that self-respect is not selfishness, that boundaries are not betrayal, and that the most authentic form of love sometimes requires walking away rather than accepting ongoing harm.
That knowledge—hard-won through pain but ultimately liberating—was perhaps the most valuable gift of
