Grandma Diane.
Claire finished reading.
Luke looked at her.
“Well?”
She handed him the letter.
He read it.
Then Kate.
They had not planned for Kate to be there.
She happened to be visiting.
When she finished, she folded the letter carefully.
“She’s never said anything like that to me.”
Luke looked at her.
“How does that feel?”
Kate thought.
“Bad.”
Claire understood.
An apology to one person could highlight the absence of another.
Ellie came into the room carrying a coloring book.
“Can I hear it?”
Claire read it aloud.
Ellie listened without moving.
At the end she asked, “Is Grandma nice now?”
Claire answered carefully.
“I don’t know.”
“Then why did she say sorry?”
“Because saying sorry is one part of trying to become better.”
“What’s the other part?”
“Doing better.”
Ellie accepted that.
“Do I have to write back?”
“No.”
She thought.
“Can I?”
“Yes.”
Ellie spent twenty minutes writing.
Her letter was five sentences.
Grandma,
I was very sad when you pushed me in my cake.
I told you no.
I like that you said sorry.
I am not ready to come to your house.
Love, Ellie.
Claire read it twice before mailing it.
Diane did not respond.
That was probably the correct choice.
Another year passed.
Then another.
Contact resumed slowly.
First birthday cards.
Then short phone calls.
Then one meeting at a park.
Claire and Luke both attended.
Diane arrived without gifts.
That mattered.
The old Diane rarely went anywhere involving Ellie without bringing something expensive.
She sat at a picnic table.
Ellie remained beside Claire.
Diane smiled nervously.
“You’ve gotten tall.”
Ellie shrugged.
“Dad says I’m going to be taller than him.”
“That would be something.”
Silence.
Diane looked at Claire.
Then Luke.
Then back at Ellie.
“I’m happy to see you.”
Ellie nodded.
They stayed twenty-three minutes.