Kylie My mother stayed and chatted with me for a while after that. It felt like it used to before I went to college. She was involved in my life and I was in hers back then. She wasn't perfect, but she was my mother, so I let her distract me. She talked about mutual acquaintances and who divorced whom. It was surprisingly nice, if perhaps a bit mundane. I wasn't ready to forgive her, but at least I understood her better now. During a pause in our conversation, I asked one question that I hadn't planned to ask, but I had wondered about throughout the years. "What happened between you and Dad?" I said. I watched her face fall. I could tell she didn't want to answer, but then she sagged. Her whole body seemed to deflate. "Your father is a good man. The best sort of man. He stayed with

