Ann's Story Part 37: Stories Left Out

The emails leave out stories.

Difficult stories like when I tried to buy her clothes. I had agreed to buy her new jeans because all of hers were too small. She would only try on jeans of the same size, which I refused to buy. She already had 10 pair of jeans in that size, why would she need more? She started yelling at me in the store and I told her I was done shopping for the day and would wait for her in the car. She did not believe me at first, but after I left the dressing room she eventually caught up. She yelled in the store for me to slow down and wait for her. In the car she complained, "Gawd! I can't believe you did that. All I said was ... and then you just walked out and left! This is so stupid!" Pause. "Aren't you going to say anything?"
"I don't have anything to say. I think you summed up what happened accurately and I agree that it is stupid."
"I HATE it when you do that."
"I know."

Similarly there was the time that I reminded her to put on her seat belt and for no apparent reason crossed her arms and did not buckle up. I pulled off to the side of the road, turned off the engine, and waited. "Are you really just going to sit here? I can't believe it. We are just going to sit here on the side of the street because I won't wear my seatbelt?" I said nothing. "Gawd. This is so stupid!"
"I completely agree."
"I HATE it when you do that."
"I know."

But there were other days. Days when she worked on homework projects with Hubby and was pleased to be learning.

There were countless evenings when she helped cook dinner and told me about her day and laughed.

There were who knows how many evenings when she could not sleep and I would lie on her bed, on top of the covers, and she curled next to me like a toddler and fell asleep.

Most of the time she was just a 12-year-old girl who was stuggling to find a way to survive in the world. She was endearing, fragile, lovable, and afraid. She was also surrounded by a group of adults all of whom really did all want what was best for her. Those adults just did not agree on what that was.

Part 38