Member-only story
LIFE
Merry Christmas From The Black Sheep Of The Family
I’m fine, not that you asked
Dear Aunt Rhonda,
Over this past weekend, I finally was brave enough to look through my mother’s old boxes of pictures and papers. I hadn’t been able to look before that because the pain of losing her was complicated. We hadn’t been close, both of us thinking we would have all the time in the world to repair our relationship. That wish died with her.
As I sifted through each picture, I realized just about everyone was in them on my mother’s side of the family. Not wanting to ruin the picture frames, I took some pictures of the photos that included us all and sent them to my photo editor where I restored them as much as I could.
One of the people I forwarded the pictures to was you, Aunt Rhonda. Even after all these years, I was still Charlie Brown who tries to kick the football before Lucy yanks it away. Charlie never learned, something he and I had in common.
I included a nice note to you along with the pictures with the hopeful heart of the little girl still inside me. Maybe the pictures would start a conversation between us. Maybe we would laugh and joke the way we used to. I tried not to care but, damn it, I cared more than I wanted to admit.
