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She shrugged "You know"

"I don’t I wish I did sometiing "Jesse and I were so focused on not beco our parents that we followed every rule We even made up so so hard to continue living by thehed, but it was hollow "Following the rules was probably the better choice I hung out with souys--"

"There is nothing wrong with that," I stated with fervor I

"I know," she said "What rong washt likeloved"

"But you had your dad," I said quickly, thinking of Trey The thought of one parent not being enough kept ht

"He checked out of this world for a while when she passed" Her voice had grown soft I knehat that hen grief memories threatened to take over It ork to stay cal them destroy you

"I understand what you did," I said

"Maybe you do," she said "But you didn’t use circumstance as an excuse to self-destruct"

"Don’t you think you’re being hard on yourself?"

She smiled wryly "Do you know anyone worth her salt who isn’t hard on herself?"

"Good question" I thought about the women in ive the The question was did it help or hurt? And hoas it shaping my son’s perspective? "Your dad," I said "When did you reconnect with hi to sound like psychobabble, but I found my dad when I reconnected with myself I put my mind into my schoolwork and found I had a love for science Once nized I’d discovered a passion for so ht him back," I said "That was you, not him"

She went quiet for a moment, and then said, "Maybe Andhim back"

A certain sadness fell over me Sadness for Mr Eckhardt, but also sadness forme back? Trey? No, I couldn’t put that on hi what he had to offer Maybe Colin had a point

"That garden is doing it for you," Mykia said as if reading ht and every one of those plants dies on the vine, you tried it You had to find the energy to give it a go And the passion"

I thought about the garden and what it had come to mean to me "They won’t all die," I promised her "I won’t let theht you back," Mykia said "Sometimes the brain takes a while to catch up with the heart"