A few days later, Michelle visited my apartment alone. She looked tired and admitted that she had allowed Todd to make the arrangement seem reasonable because she was worried about their finances. She apologized for treating my time as though it belonged to them. I listened without interrupting.
I told her that I understood financial pressure and that I wanted to help whenever I genuinely could. But I also explained that losing Dale had already changed my entire life. I needed time to grieve, rebuild my routines, and discover who I was outside my marriage. I wanted to be the grandmother who arrived with birthday presents and stayed for Sunday lunch, not someone whose value was measured by rent and babysitting hours. Michelle began crying and finally understood what I had been trying to tell her.
