Others described the fear and financial pressure she'd experienced when I was a child.
At first, I couldn't bear to read them.
Eventually, with the help of my therapist, I began opening a few.
I didn't promise reconciliation.
I didn't tell her everything was forgiven.
Because it wasn't.
But I also stopped feeling that I had to decide the entire future of our relationship immediately.
My mother had made choices that changed my life.
Now I had the right to make choices about mine.
**And for the first time, the person deciding what was best for Mara Wren Vale was Mara Wren Vale herself.**
***
### EIGHTEEN MONTHS AFTER THE SURGERY
The day June Bell called, I was helping Iris paint a picture of our garden.
We had spread newspaper across the kitchen table.
Red paint covered Iris's fingers.
A bright yellow sun occupied almost half her page.
Leo had decided the grass should be purple.
