Cora (Dollar) POV
The letters were from the heart; I could feel my mother's emotions poured out in ink on the paper.
Something inside me shattered and was rebuilt.
Understanding the terrible time my mother went through, all those nights she was pushing me hard to learn and remember, to be self-sufficient, and never rely on a man — Mum constantly told me.
My poor mum, if only she had opened up just a little with me.
I found myself forgiving Mum; her cold, aloof behaviour was a self-preservation tactic she adopted to hide how she felt from my uncle, and my Dad's father, and maybe his grandfather too, in the early days, when they were first forced to separate.
Understanding, clarity, and a deep sense of peace came.
The hardness that had made me so guarded against others, against trusti
