When I was fourteen years old my family went on a one-week vacation to Vancouver. During the six months leading up to the vacation, my mother and her sister were enduring one of their occasional bouts of not being on speaking terms with each other, this one precipitated by a comment my mother made about her sister’s posture, perceived by my mother as a constructive expression of concern and by her sister as insensitive and mean-spirited.
Simon, my father, and I were always acutely aware when my mother and her sister weren’t talking. During their time apart, my mother mentioned her sister at every opportunity, saying things like, “I wonder what Abbey is up to” and “Abbey would love this or that” and “I should really give Abbey a call” until finally she did call and both sisters lied and to
