October 8, 2018:
The brother I never met. Was he the oldest?
It's curious that in all that time, my mother never fully explained who the players were. It's as if she'd found her Cinderella family and there was no need to include me. Apart, of course, from her desire to present me as her one great-but-silent success.
So that I don't entirely know who's who.
They were very kind and continued to accept her after I rejected them. Well — it's unlikely they were especially concerned by my decision. You can't seriously maintain that I mattered to them one way or the other.