Chapter 11 - Alejandro Finally Faces His Parents
Rosa and Miguel came to Chicago.
They asked to meet me first.
Rosa hugged me.
I allowed it.
Miguel brought a folder containing every transfer Alejandro claimed he
had sent them.
My trust records matched the amounts.
He had taken credit for all of them.
Rosa cried.
“Why would he lie about something kind you did?”
I knew the answer.
“Because receiving generosity made him feel small.”
Miguel shook his head.
“Then he should have grown.”
That sentence stayed with me.
They met Alejandro afterward.
I was not there.
Later Rosa called.
She said her son blamed me.
Then Claudia.
Then stress.
Then my father.
Then his own childhood.
Miguel finally asked him one question.
“When was the last time anything was your responsibility?”
Alejandro had no answer.
His parents did not disown him.
They loved him.
But they stopped protecting him from consequences.
That distinction became important to me.
I could stop loving someone.
May you like
Parents often could not.
Boundaries did not require hatred.
