cnu-At my fortieth birthday party, my sister swung a baseball bat into…

for guests to hear.

“It is a birthday party,” she said. “Couldn’t everyone just be pleasant?”

By everyone, she meant Emma.

That was how things had always worked in my family. Vanessa pushed. Someone else was asked to be pleasant. Vanessa demanded. Someone else was asked to share. Vanessa exploded. Someone else was asked to understand what she was going continue reading …