“I am just not ready to see her, to sit down and eat a meal as if she has done nothing wrong.” Katie spoke to her sister through the cell phone as she rushed to the school to pick up Tommy. “I can see her at Sharon’s shower on Saturday, and I will be civil and polite and make nice small talk. I am just not up for a meal afterward or even a drink. I need to get home to the kids anyway.”
And so it was. Donna traveled all the way back to Philadelphia to attend her niece Sharon’s shower. She stayed in a hotel near her sister’s house. She had dinner with an old school friend on Saturday night. She only saw her daughters at the shower.
At the shower, the girls each gave her kisses on the cheek and chatted happily about their lives. From the outside, it looked very normal. If asked if she was staying with one of the girls, Donna made their excuses. Eliza, Katie’s youngest, was sick with croup. Marybeth was running a triathlon early Sunday morning. You know how busy it can be when you are young.
Donna knew full well the reality of why her daughters did not have time for her. It was written in the cold anger in Katie’s eyes and stiff put-on-for-company smile. It was painted in the sadness and hurt around Marybeth’s mouth as she told her about her trip to Maine with the current boyfriend. As far as they were concerned, it was all Donna’s fault. She had smashed their perfect family.
Donna had met the girls’ father, Ed, in a usual way, at a party at the home of a mutual friend. They dated in a usual way: movies, dinners out. Ed was devastatingly handsome, tall, slim, impeccably dressed. He had perfect manners and an easy smile. He laughed at her silly jokes and was kind and respectful to her parents. Everyone thought they were the perfect couple. Donna did too.
