Her voice trembled.
“I lost my husband. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t function. I couldn’t imagine raising two babies alone.”
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“I made the worst decision of my life.”
Her attorney gave her a moment.
“Did you stop loving Jeffrey and George?”
“Never.”
I stared at my hands.
“Why didn’t you return sooner?”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“Shame.”
She took a long breath.
“Every year that passed made it harder. I thought Margaret hated me. I thought the boys hated me. Eventually I convinced myself they were better off without me.”
It was a powerful story.
Because parts of it might have been true.
Grief probably had destroyed her.
Shame probably had grown with time.
But grief did not explain a decade without a birthday card.
And shame did not explain fifty-one percent.
Her attorney continued.
“What changed?”
“I did.”
She described counseling.
