Then I recalled all the birthdays I had spent addressing a vacant memorial.No.
Thomas blinked.Please, Eleanor.
Rebecca appeared perplexed.”Dad said the war kept you two apart.””We were,” I remarked. “Until he came home.””What do you mean?” she inquired.In 1973, your father returned home. He never dissuaded me from thinking that he was still missing, even though he was aware of this.
Peter set the grocery bags down.Is that accurate, Dad?
In a whisper, Thomas said, “I was ashamed.”
Rebecca gazed at him.”You gave her the impression that you were dead?”I thought she had moved on.”She didn’t,” Daniel remarked.
Thomas observed the expressions on everyone’s faces.Margaret was dear to me. I adore every single one of you. I was attempting to honor my family.I said, “And I wasn’t family.”
He winced.I apologize. Rebecca remarked, “I thought he’d told me the whole story.””You used to be everything to me,” Thomas said.”Once,” I said again.
