My husband pushed me down the stairs, and as I lay shattered at the bottom, my mother-in-law called my father and said, “Come get your worthless daughter and take her back.” Dad gave her only one warning: “If she has so much as a scratch, your family will answer for it.” They laughed at him because they had absolutely no idea who my father truly was.

“Whatever you decide, keep the parenting order and safety arrangements separate from personal forgiveness.”

I asked for a week to think.

Years earlier, I would have replied immediately because silence felt rude.

Now I understood that responding to every demand for access could become another way of giving up my time.

I wrote a short answer through counsel: I was willing to discuss matters directly affecting Lily through appropriate channels and within the existing order.

I was not prepared for a personal meeting.