The third week call was where the shift happened.
“Your father is wondering,” she said — and I noted the “your father is wondering,” which is the construction she uses when a request is his but she is delivering it — “if you’d be willing to sit down with Luke. Help him understand a few things.”
I said Luke had my handover document.
She said the document was very helpful but there were some specific questions about account history that weren’t captured there.
I said Luke could call me if he had specific questions.
She said that was generous.
I sat with the word “generous” for a moment. Generous implies something given beyond what is owed. Eighteen years of operations work, followed by a thorough handover document, followed by two sessions of Q&A with my replacement, is not generosity. It is what I was paid to do during my notice period.
What my mother was describing — ongoing account consultation, indefinitely, outside of any formal arrangement — was something different. She was describing the continuation of a dynamic that had structured my entire time at Morgan Freight: the assumption that my availability was a given, that my knowledge was family property, that helping was my natural role.
“Mom,” I said, “I was let go. I gave them four weeks and a fourteen-page Alder section. If Luke has questions, he can call me, and I’ll try to answer what I can within reason. But I’m also job hunting, and I’m not available for unlimited free consulting.”