Mom

She likes the orca poem but don't think she likes Dire Need. She didn't say she doesn't like it, but said she needed to think about it.

That's okay. I don't require that people like it. Gotta write. That's it.

What's true, though, is Mom doesn't like to stray anywhere near expressing emotion out loud. She's always been that way. I would say something, bear my soul, and she would literally ignore it. I haven't bothered for a long time.

Sometimes I feel guilty about keeping away from her all these years. Yes, we've always lived a long way from each other, but other children visit their parents and they live just as far away as I do.

I think it's more that I feel guilty about not wanting to go. I just don't care. At least, not enough to go.