Nervous doesn’t even begin to describe the emotions infecting every waking thought of my mind.

After my mom and I talked yesterday, she agreed tentatively to meet Felix for lunch the next day at a place of mom’s choosing. Before I reached out to Felix, I made mom promise to be cordial, but I knew already that I would need to remind her again at lunch.

Felix agreed without reluctance. I couldn’t stop the spreading smile across my face. When I let him know that mom got to ...