Chapter 3 - Vivian Had Raised Daniel Alone After His Father Died
Understanding Vivian required understanding:
loss.
Not excusing.
Understanding.
Daniel’s father, Robert Walker, died from a heart attack when Daniel was nineteen.
Vivian was:
fifty?
No, younger.
Forty-three.
Daniel was her only child.
She had spent nineteen years organizing her life around:
him.
After Robert died, that bond intensified.
Daniel returned from college every:
weekend
for months.
Helped with:
bills,
yard work,
repairs.
Vivian called him:
“the man of the house.”
I hated that phrase.
Not because helping your widowed mother is wrong.
Because Daniel was nineteen.
He was her:
son.
Not replacement husband.
Daniel eventually moved:
out.
Built a career.
Met:
me.
Vivian never openly opposed:
our relationship.
She simply made herself impossible to:
exclude.
Dinner Sunday.
Holiday schedules.
Medical appointments.
Financial opinions.
If Daniel said no:
she cried.
If I said no:
I was controlling him.
He recognized the pattern.
Sometimes.
Other times, he said:
“She’s alone.”
That phrase became the answer to:
everything.
Vivian lost her husband.
Therefore:
extra Christmas.
Extra phone calls.
Extra money.
Extra access.
At first it seemed:
compassionate.
Then compassion became:
May you like
policy.
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