“Mom?” his voice sounded strained, heavy with exhaust. “Do you… do you have a minute?”
“I always have time for you, Colin,” I said calmly.
There was a long silence on the line before he spoke again. “We signed a lease on a townhouse today. It’s smaller, but it’s close to the kids’ school. We start moving this weekend.”
“That sounds like a sensible choice, Colin.”
“Mom…” he hesitated, his voice cracking slightly. “Jessica and I had a huge fight last night. She was complaining about having to order takeout every night because neither of us had time to cook, and… I just lost it.”
I stayed quiet, letting him talk.
“I looked at her and said, ‘My mother did this every single day for four years while we barely said thank you, and you called her a burden.’ She didn’t have anything to say to that.” Colin took a shaky breath. “I’m so sorry, Mom. I was so blind. I let her make you feel small in your own family, and I went right along with it because it was easier than standing up to her.”
