"This is what she had become."
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Cleopatra Banks' last week in the small town of New Chelsea is nothing like she would have imagined it, but nothing could have prepared her for the stinging betrayal she's faced with and suddenly the prospect of...
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The remainder of our holiday, which lasts for a week, is spent in pretty much the same manner as the second week. Everything was just one huge melting pot of fun and winter bliss. No drama whatsoever.
To top it all off, Lexi had some great news to share. It took me about five minutes to decipher what she was trying to say when she prattled on for ages over the phone when I answered it but good news is always good news, no matter how much it sounds like gibberish.
She and her mother are finally free from the influences of her father. After many years of living in fear of him and all that he was, they're free to go about their lives however they want to.
She cried so much over the phone and I could only wish to physically be there with her after all these months she's spent hoping and praying that that sordid man could finally be put behind bars. It's a relief we've all been waiting for.
Lexi deserves her own share of happiness and peace. I owe part of who I've become and am still becoming to her. In the midst of all that she was going through, she kept me going. She kept me afloat when all I wanted to do was fade into the background and dissolve into everyone else's reality.
She empowered me to find myself, to be myself, to love freely and I think the main reason I've been able to help people out was because I had strong women cheering me on the entire time who showed me that I could do it.
Beautiful things happen when girls learn how to love each other fiercely instead of competing against each other all the time.
I've seen it happen with Amy and June, with Natasha and Valeria and mostly with me and Lexi. I may never know what happened for things to turn so brutal between Isabella and Thandi or how things went sour so quickly between me and Shanice or how they ever got so bad between her and Lexi but I also know my limits. No matter how much good I'm capable of doing, I know I can't fix everything. And maybe one day I'll finally be able to get the real story from Shanice, maybe even Thandi but as with everything from the past I've decided to let it all go and I forgive them the way I have learned to forgive my grandparents.
It's not a done deal, it'll take time as all processes do but I know I'm headed in the right direction. Grandma Rose expressed her regret in that letter and each sentence was full of tears. She somehow knew she wasn't going to live that much longer seeing as how her best friend had passed on a few years ago and he was the only family she had left (she didn't think she deserved to call us her family after all that had happened). She also wrote in on his behalf.
I can only wish that things had been different.
She taught me not to live a life I'll regret later on. That no grudge is worth your soul. That I must tell people I love them before it's too late, spend time with them, cheer them on, and do all I can for them. She hopes the best for me, wishes that she could have held me more, wishes that she could have tried to convince her husband otherwise about my parents, hopes that I turn out just as strong and as courageous as my mother and find someone who loves me the way my father loves her.
