On Mother’s Day, my mother lifted her glass with a smile. “To the mistake I could never fix.” My father laughed, my brother clapped, and my sister nearly choked from laughing so hard. I placed my fork down and said, “Dad, you’re going to regret that.” They only laughed louder. One week later, 68 missed calls filled my phone. My brother’s voicemail started with, “Little sister… this isn’t funny anymore.” He still had no idea what I controlled.
On Mother’s Day, my mother raised her champagne glass and made a toast to the one mistake she claimed she had never been able to correct. Then she stared directly at me as the rest of my family laughed.
“To the mistake I could never correct,” she said.
My father smiled.
My older brother, Daniel, applauded as though she had just delivered the funniest line of the year. My younger sister, Chloe, nearly spilled her wine from laughing.
