**The Old Suitcase** I watched as Vera stormed out onto the porch, slamming the gate so hard the dogs
**Diary Entry** *”I could have screamed at her—my husband’s sister. But I bit my tongue.
**The Old Suitcase** Emily slammed the garden gate shut with such force that the neighbour’s spaniels
“Won’t you take me in with you?” my mother asked bitterly. But I already knew the answer…
I knew I had been a terrible mother. I came to see my son—”I don’t have a mother,”
*”You’re nothing to me!”* — the cry of the stepdaughter cut deeper than any blade. *”
I know I was a terrible mother. I came to see my son—”I don’t have a mother,”
“You mean nothing to me!” — the scream from the stepdaughter cut deeper than any knife. “
I wanted to go back to my ex-wife—we’d been together for 30 years—but it was already too late.
**Diary Entry** I know I was a terrible mother. I went to see my son—”I don’t have a mother,”