I gathered copies of documents from Fort Sheridan. I believed Linda was helping certain families sign medical and legal forms without properly explaining them. I believed there were financial motives, but also something deeper: a desire to control where children went, who made decisions, and which mothers were believed.
I hid what I found because I was afraid. Not for myself at first. For your father’s career. For the young families involved. For you.
James knows some of this, but not all. I was angry with him for trusting the wrong people, and he was angry with me for carrying danger alone. We were young enough to think love meant sparing each other worry. We were wrong.
Emily, trust your father. But also make him tell you the truth.
And trust yourself most of all.
Love,
Mom
Under the letter were photocopied documents, brittle with age. Names were blacked out in some places. Signatures circled. Dates highlighted. A handwritten note was clipped to one page.
