Patrick carefully unfolded the second letter while Diane and Nora gathered around the kitchen table. Unlike the first, this one was addressed directly to Margaret’s children. She explained that she had written it months earlier, after realizing she could no longer spend every holiday wondering whether someone would remember she existed. For years, she had accepted the same excuses: busy schedules, unexpected meetings, forgotten birthdays, and promises to visit “next weekend” that somehow disappeared.

Then came the sentence that made the room completely silent. Margaret admitted that she had played a part in the pattern because she had never asked her children for more than the scraps of attention they were willing to give. She wrote that every time she accepted being their last priority, she had taught them that it was acceptable. As Patrick continued reading, every canceled dinner, unanswered call, and unopened invitation suddenly felt impossible to ignore.