Maybe that was because our parents, being actual adults, instead of teenagers trying to act like adults, got down to deciding what to actually do abou... the situation. They didn't dither, like we had, or delay, or try to pretend nothing was wrong. They didn't hope for some miracle to undo things. And they loved us like parents should love their children. This was the first lesson I got in how parents can be really disappointed in the choices their children make, but go on loving them anyway.It. This one was steadier. His muscles andmuscle tone had atrophied a little, even with the efforts of the staffto keep that from happening. He pushed himself down on the aluminum barsof the walker and moved another foot forward. This one did not drag halfsideways like it had when he started. The two big men who helped him tohis feet were standing quietly to one side. Once J.L. had gotten theidea into his mind of what to do they were able to leave off of him abit and let him take his own weight.A. "Like what?" Mom gave me a kind of chiding smirk. "Well...it's been a long time since I've been with a man. I mean, really been with a man." I grinned. "You mean that you and him ..." I let the rest of the ques ton go. It was a little embarrassing asking my mother about her sex life. "No. We haven't," she admitted, but upfront about the issue. "Oh," I said simply, trying not to make an issue out of it one way or the other. "And I just don't know how it would be with him. How it would be with. I did as I was told, after which he ordered me to bend over the sofa back and put my head way down on the seat. Even though I was fully exposed and terrified, I found myself wet with the realization that he was about to do to me what I had heard him do many times to Mary.I heard the expected swish of the cane a couple of times as he tapped my exposed bum. Then the first stroke landed and I wondered how the hell she had managed to withstand the pain. It felt like hot oil had been poured in a.