Last week, my wife was ten minutes into a phone call with her mother when I distinctly heard the tenor of the conversation change. Small talk about what the kids were up to (nothing) and how remote school was going (terribly) turned into, at least on my wife’s side of the conversation, a series of hesitant, staccato reassurances.
“No, it totally makes sense, we’ve been talking about that too!”
“I totally understand!”
“We’ve been nervous too but we didn’t want you to feel like—”
“Of course we’d be so sad if you couldn’t come but—”
“No, no, we just want everyone to feel safe!”
Her mom, Alia later told me, was basically saying the same stuff but in reverse. At one point, her mom told her: “You understand that if I stay here I’m not saying I love your brother more than I love you!”
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