I sat completely still.
Denise whispered, “Jo?”
I looked at the date again.
Ten years ago.
One year.
I could have deferred for one year.
Maybe after that year I still would have stayed home.
Maybe I would have attended part-time.
Maybe Ethan’s needs would have made school impossible.
Maybe nothing would have changed.
But the choice had existed.
And I had never known.
“Did Mom put this in the box?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Did Dad?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ever ask them?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought you should see it first.”
That, more than anything else she had done that day, made me look at her differently.
She had waited.
Not because waiting was easier for her.
Because this truth belonged to me.
I closed my eyes.
For ten years, I had told myself a story.
Denise left.
I stayed.
Therefore I lost school.
