Lucy Greenwell

She'd missed out on Chloe's funeral and now she's not welcome at this one.

She's always one step removed from these newfound families at these critical emotional moments.

Like she's the disruptor, a needless distraction.

Look at it from Jennifer's point of view.

She's never been in the same room as her long-ago abandoned daughter.

To risk coming face-to-face for the very first time at her own father's funeral, well, that would add a heavy emotional burden to an already difficult day.

I can see why Jennifer and her mother wanted to avoid that.

But for Jess, this funeral decision is the final straw.

She makes a choice to distance herself from the mall.

This message, sent the day before the funeral, causes its own hurt, a hardening of attitudes towards Jess.

For a while, Jess feels like her life is a bit simpler again, without them all.

No more visits, no more birthday cards, no more diplomatically dividing her time between different family members.

But then, a few months later, we start recording this podcast.

So this was after I had written to various people, inviting them to tell their side of the story or to contribute to this podcast.

It's so hard for me to understand who's rejecting who.

Yeah.

Because you signed off.

You said, signed off on them.

It's too painful.

Yeah.