My husband died when she was in her twenties. She left Europe and moved to New York where she met Winnie. It was a whirlwind romance and within months they were starting a family. I had never even heard Helena talk about wanting children but then she’d never had any long-term relationships before Winnie. I was hopeful that she was going to finally settle down. When Winnie was pregnant with Wilson she was totally devoted. I had never seen my daughter care about anything like she did her pregnant wife. She was so loving and attentive, but as soon as the baby was born, she started distancing herself from Winnie and having extramarital affairs. Winnie. Bless her. She tolerated the indiscretions to keep the peace and make a home for their son.

No matter how bad it got between Winnie and Helena, I wanted to make sure that my grandson would always be taken care so I did what I could. I was surprised when Winnie told me they were adopting Jang Yin. I believe it was Winnie’s wish to have children and she was going to have her family despite Helena. I was the typical doting grandmother enamored with both children, but I wasn’t going to be around forever, and I wanted my daughter to take some responsibility. She was in her mid-twenties; she had a family and had never held a job in her life. She was blowing through her fathers’ inheritance; gallivanting around the world with not a care yet I continued to support her, Winnie and the kids.

After she completed her formal education, I gave her many opportunities to work in different facets of the company, but she would never last more than a few months. By now I had met Bette and we were growing closer. I couldn’t help but compare them. They were close in age. Helena had had so many more privileges, yet she’d accomplished so little, but even more disturbing was my daughter had no ambition. She was perfectly happy to live off Mommies money and the Peabody name while Bette had enough ambition to be a successful gallery owner pretty much doing it on her own. What broke my heart was the circumstances that led Bette to give up the gallery in order to take a more financially stable position at the CAC when she and Tina decided to have a child. I knew how much of a sacrifice she was making, but at the same time it only made me admire and respect her more. I thought that by telling Helena about Bette I would motivate her, but instead I was alienating her.