The Good Sister

by Sally Hepworth

According to him, a good way to process trauma and put it behind you is to write it down. That’s why he gave me this journal.

Usually it takes at least an hour of deep breathing before I can calm myself enough to drift off again.

Then Janet had asked if there was anything else she could help her with. That was the moment the woman broke down in tears and confessed that it was the anniversary of her son’s death, and she’d been desperate to escape the day by losing herself in a good book.

“Angry is just a pen name for sad,” Janet had explained. “In my experience, nine times out of ten if you are kind to the angry person, you will calm them down and find out what is really going on with them.”

My heart is still thundering. “I thought I could do it,” I say to Wally, or myself. “I thought it would be okay.”

“One thing I’ve learned about facing fear,” he says, “is that sometimes, it’s just too scary.”

A full-blown nervous breakdown, apparently. I was so ashamed that when I got out, I left my big successful life behind and moved to Australia!”

and anxiety is likely handed down through generations. I would feel awful for inflicting that on a helpless kid.” He frowns off into the distance.

I stand and turn away from her, but not before I see her jaw drop. As I walk into the staff room, I force myself not to look back. Setting boundaries isn’t easy.

The Secret Life of Shirley Sullivan by Lisa Ireland.

Curious if this is a good book

“Unfortunately, even healthy people have strokes sometimes.”

I’m beginning to think Wally was right when he said I was normal and everyone else was a weirdo.