Chapter 9 - JASON ASKED TO SEE ROSALIND
Four years passed.
Rosalind was twelve.
Tall.
Sharp.
Obsessed with architecture.
She said she wanted to design houses because Grandpa only knew how to fix them after architects made mistakes.
I considered disowning her.
Gideon encouraged her.
He was still across the street.
Still recording license plates nobody asked him to record.
Retirement had not improved him.
Jason eventually requested limited contact.
Not directly.
Through the proper process.
He had completed required programs.
Maintained employment.
Paid restitution.
Separated from Pamela two years earlier.
Their marriage had not survived the consequences.
I did not decide whether he could see Rosalind alone.
That was not my right.
Rosalind had a therapist.
An attorney had once represented her interests.
We sought appropriate guidance.
She chose one supervised meeting.
Beforehand, she asked:
“Grandpa, do you hate Uncle Jason?”
I thought.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because hate would keep him living in this house without paying rent.”
She frowned.
“That sounds like a Gideon sentence.”
It was.
Then she asked:
“Do you forgive him?”
“No.”
“Maybe someday?”
“Maybe.”
She nodded.
Children are often more comfortable with unfinished answers than adults.
The meeting lasted forty-five minutes.
Jason cried almost immediately.
Rosalind did not.
He apologized.
Not for “family misunderstandings.”
Not for “things getting out of control.”
Specifically.
“I helped make Grandpa think he was losing his memory.”
“I tried to take you from him.”
“I lied about your mom’s last night.”
Rosalind stared.
Then asked:
“Why?”
Jason answered:
“Because I was afraid and selfish.”
Good.
No blaming Pamela.
No debt speech.
No excuse.
Then Rosalind said:
“Mom trusted Grandpa.”
“Yes.”
“So you should have too.”
“Yes.”
She did not hug him.
They met again three months later.
Relationships rebuilt slowly.
Maybe one day they would become family again in a meaningful way.
Maybe not.
Rosalind was allowed to decide.
May you like
That freedom was the opposite of everything Jason had tried to take.
---
