“Your aunt worried she hadn’t made herself easy to love.

She admired your mother for being affectionate.

Eleanor was better at solving problems than saying what she felt.”

I thought about the birthday checks Eleanor sent, always accompanied by a note telling me to spend something on myself.

Most years I had used the money for household expenses and never mentioned it.

Helen told me there was one more packet in the archive marked For Meredith, when she is ready to be angry with me.

I asked Caroline to retrieve it.