I am sorry for what I did.
Darren Cole.
I read it twice.
Then put it down.
Laura asked, “You okay?”
“Yes.”
“Want to respond?”
“No.”
“Sure?”
“Yes.”
Forgiveness is not the same thing as reopening a relationship.
I believed Darren’s apology.
I also believed silence was the healthiest response.
He had taken responsibility.
That mattered.
But I did not need him in my life.
I filed the letter in the box.
Brenda never wrote.
I heard through court reporting that she continued appealing portions of her case for some time.
I did not follow closely.
At a certain point, refusing to let someone control your life includes refusing to keep watching their consequences.
I had mine to live.
The strangest legacy of the entire ordeal was the way Cedar Grove changed culturally.
Before Brenda, people assumed official looking meant official.
HOA letterhead.
Security vest.
Legal sounding sentence.
People saw those things and complied.
