Chapter 4: Daughters Worth Keeping
Lily and I learned quickly not to complain.
Beneath everything else lived one terrible fear: mothers leave.
And if we weren’t careful, Jean might leave too.
So we became quiet girls. Helpful girls. Grateful girls. We spent our entire childhood trying to become daughters worth staying for.
We never once questioned the story we had been told.
Not until Mother’s Day fifteen years later.
Lily texted me early that morning.
I can’t make it. Double shift. Please tell Jean I love her.
I sighed and replied, I’ll cover for you.
On the way to Jean’s house, I stopped and bought expensive stargazer lilies — her favorite flowers — even though thirty dollars was more than I should have spent.
Because no matter how complicated Jean was, part of me still believed we owed her something for staying… Continue Reading ⬇️
