We did not use our daughter to deliver messages.

Gavin started meeting with a counselor of his own.

He told me he had spent much of his adult life trying to win his mother’s approval and resenting anyone who questioned her.

I listened.

I did not treat the explanation as an excuse.

One evening he found me reviewing the Career Club volunteer schedule.

“I read the scholarship guide you left on the table,” he said.

“Was it useful?”