Chapter 5 - Avalon Had Paid for Something I Couldn't Hate Her For
The next withdrawals went toward Avalon's father.
Patrick Lane.
Seventy-one.
Lung cancer.
Avalon had never told us how bad it became.
Medicare covered much.
Not everything.
Transportation.
Home modifications.
A private aide for several weeks.
Hotel bills near the treatment center.
She used $18,600.
Unauthorized.
Absolutely.
But not for handbags.
Not yet.
When I learned, I felt my anger stumble.
Patrick died nine months before Thanksgiving.
I had attended the funeral.
Avalon hugged me and said:
“I don't know what I would've done without Randall.”
Apparently Randall had not known either.
She had made him believe Patrick's savings paid for most of it.
Why lie?
Pride.
Same answer I would later have to give about myself.
That was the uncomfortable pattern.
Everyone in our family was hiding need from somebody they loved.
I hid poverty from Randall.
Randall hid business trouble from me.
Avalon hid her father's costs from Randall.
And every secret created a little private authority.
Mine over my image.
His over his fear.
Hers over money that wasn't hers.
May you like
Then the withdrawals changed.
That was where understanding stopped being enough.
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