Marianne smiled.
“Of course, Mom. We’ve got the whole afternoon.”
She leaned her head against my shoulder.
And I held my granddaughter close.
For the first time in a long while, I felt completely at peace.
Because sometimes standing up for yourself doesn’t require shouting, arguing, or humiliating someone in return.
Sometimes it simply means deciding that your comfort, your dignity, and your right to occupy your own space matter too.
And after sixty-one years of trying to keep everyone else happy, I was finally beginning to understand that.
