Tears filled my eyes.
“Then why did she do it to me?”
Ruth sighed.
“Because sometimes people repeat the very things that hurt them, especially when they’ve never understood or healed from those experiences.”
She paused.
“You remind your mother of herself, Olivia.”
I looked at her.
“The dependable daughter. The practical
one. The person everyone expects to carry the responsibilities.”
Ruth’s eyes looked tired.
“And Camille reminds her of Joyce. The daughter who receives admiration without having to work quite so hard for it.”
I stared at the table.
“I think your mother spent her entire life trying to escape the feeling of being overlooked,” Ruth continued. “And instead of confronting it, she repeated the same pattern with you.”
I began crying.
“It doesn’t excuse what she did,” Ruth said firmly.
I nodded.
“Not for a moment.”
She squeezed my hand.
“But I thought you deserved to understand where it came from.”
