He also knew that, when I was sad, I didn’t always want advice.
Sometimes I just wanted someone to sit beside me until the sadness passed.
My mother, Linda, saw none of those things.
She saw a man who repaired engines for a living and concluded that he would never be capable of building a comfortable life.
From the moment Ethan and I became serious, she made her opinion clear.
“You could do so much better, Olivia.”
She said it over dinner, during phone calls, and once in front of my friends while we were shopping for my wedding dress.
When I asked what she meant, she gave me a look that made the answer seem obvious.
“He’s a mechanic.”
“And?”
“And you have a degree. You’re intelligent. You have opportunities. Why would you settle for someone who spends his days covered in oil?”
I remember staring at her in disbelief.
