to say true character is revealed not when everything is going well, but when the foundations shake beneath your feet.”
The mention of my father, gone fifteen years now, brought a bittersweet smile.
“He’d be appalled by the way Amber has acted.”
“Completely,” Helen agreed. “But he’d be tremendously proud of you, as am I.”
That simple affirmation—mother to daughter, across the generational divide—provided unexpected balm to the still-raw wound of Amber’s rejection.
At least one maternal relationship in our family remained intact, grounded in mutual respect rather than exploitation.
