Resolution

I received this email from my friend tonight:

I am so sorry. In no way did I mean to hurt you or suggest that this was not a positive choice for you. I did not mean any of the underlying issues that you brought up. And you are right that I was caught off guard, and I did not really know what to say. I honestly had no idea what to say and was not expecting Garren to ask that. I think some of it comes from recent situations with some of my friends that have been divorced, in which the fathers did just leave, and Garren has been around these people, and that has been hard enough to explain. I know that Robert was a responsible choice for you and I have no problem telling Garren this. I will definately think of a way to tell him that makes sense. You do not have to worry about him saying something negative about the father to Robert. I will explain that Robert can meet the Dad at 18 and that you really wanted to have Robert and it is a miracle that he is here for both of you.

I can tell you that Garren really enjoyed having Robert over, and was asking when you both can visit again. I really enjoyed having you both over too.
I hope you can forgive me for not thinking (which we all do from time to time), and understand that the comment did not come from my heart.

~

So, that was pretty satisfying to me. It answered some questions about why the son would have asked, and confirmed for me that she didn't harbor some secret disapproval (I didn't think so, but you never know). I'm skeptical that the kid wants us to come over, but I could be wrong about that - I'm
no expert on interpreting the moods of eight-year-olds, for sure.

So, that's over. Moving on!