I Couldn’t Attend My Daughter’s Wedding In Paris – The Same Wedding I Helped Pay For. She Told Me By Email: “If You Want To Be A Part Of It, You Can Watch Online.” So I Just Said, “Sure. Enjoy Your Big Day.” The Next Morning, She Kept Calling Me.

“So you’ll help? You’ll send the money?”

The hope in her voice was palpable. “No,” I said.

“I won’t.”

Her breath caught. “What?”

“I said no, Natalie. The money is staying where it is.”

“But why?

Is this about being there in person? Fine, you can come. We’ll figure it out with Marcel’s family somehow.

Just please send the money.”

I closed my eyes. There it was. The concession I might have accepted 24 hours ago.

But something had shifted inside me. Something permanent. And unbending.

“It’s too late,” I said. “Too late? It can’t be too late.

Mom, please. This is my wedding we’re talking about.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “Your wedding.

The one you didn’t want me at until you needed my money?”

She started to cry, big gulping sobs that once would have broken my heart. “What am I supposed to do now?”

For the first time in her life, I didn’t offer a solution. “That,” I said quietly, “is entirely up to you.”

I ended the call and turned off my phone once more.

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