We’ve done a lot of thinking, Mom began carefully, about the choices we made and the assumptions that guided them. Dad, less comfortable with emotional conversations, added stiffly, We may have misjudged your potential. The understatement was almost comical given recent events, but I recognized that acknowledgement, however inadequate, represented significant movement for them.
Yes, I agreed simply. You did. We’d like to try to repair our relationship, Mom continued.
If you’re willing. I considered their request thoughtfully. The wounded child in me wanted to reject them outright, to inflict the same pain of dismissal I had felt for years, but the woman I had become recognized that continuing that cycle would only extend the damage.