Inconsistencies

There is a story in my family that both my parents told but from different perspectives. 

It involves an incident with my mum's beloved dog Bert.

To hear my dad tell the story he and mum were arguing on the verandah one day and dad was waving his arms about in an animated fashion when Bert attacked him and shredded one leg of his trousers. 

My mum's version of the story when we were alone together later was that dad was "getting worked up" and she followed that with "you know what he is like". Those words are etched into my psyche like a scar. I truly and naively hoped he had mellowed in his older age as his heavy drinking lessened. But this conversation was an indication that it had not. So my mum's dog believed her to be in imminent danger and attacked my father in order to defend my mum. 

I am probably the only person on Earth she ever told that truth to and it is humbling. We shared not only a mother daughter bond in her declining years but also a friendship that I cherish deeply especially since she passed away in early 2020.

I sensed that she hated when he told his version of that story. He did tell that story during the week I was at Veone after my mothers death and knowing the truth of the incident it truly broke my heart to hear that story told again whilst I was still coming to terms with her loss. That was the beginning of my painful journey to emotionally address the pain of the domestic violence my mother had lived with during 58years of marriage.