And I turned 'round and there you go

 Lily went to Des Moines for Thanksgiving. Her grandmother wasn't coming to Omaha.

She hesitated to go. After all, Izzy said she could come to Thanksgiving if she wanted. But Lily knew she had to do this.

It was good to see her grandmother again, even if she knew Gram would be full of questions about her late actions. However, Gram didn't say a word about them. The dinner went well with the uncles. Their home was lovely and their kids were almost in middle school now. She hadn't seen her father's brother in years. 

Gram brought gifts for everyone. She said she planned on going on a Christmas cruise, which was heartbreaking. Lily didn't want to hear this, but the sweet cardigan and the hundred-dollar Amazon gift card did make things better.

"Why are you doing this?" Lily said later when it was just the two of them getting the Thanksgiving clean-up in order and in the dishwasher.

"Why are you doing the things you are doing?"

Evidently, Gram had talked to her mother. Lily shook her head, no. This was no time to get into this with her.

"You left me," she mustard up to say. "You know, you've always been that parent when my parents weren't around."

"What? I was supposed to wait until you left me?" 

Lily didn't understand. "You were leaving me all the time," her grandmother confessed. "I thought you wanted me to leave." She said she questioned if she'd hindered her instead of helped her all these years. "Oh, they can say everything is fine, even your father still believes this, but he can't make up for lost time. I know, you were moved around a lot when you were little. I thought things were better between you too. But I know it'll never be perfect. It might never be perfect between you and your mother, either."

Gram said she had a life too. She'd been through a lot with a husband who was far from perfect. "He never really loved me like a Hallmark movie. I don't want you to have that. It's up to you to make better choices."

Naturally, Gram didn't have any answers for her. It was best she start the new semester and find that career she was so passionate about. Lily knew it was best to get those basics out of the way and hope she found a path to help her grow.