long time ago,” Ruth said softly. “He would have told you that holding a family together isn’t your job if the family won’t hold you back.”
I cried for the first time since Jessica’s message.
Not quietly.
The kind of crying that takes your whole body with it.
Ruth stayed on the line.
She didn’t tell me to calm down.
Didn’t say everything would be okay.
She simply let me fall apart.
Finally, she said, “Don’t go back out of guilt. Go back when you want to, and only if
