I transferred the gas account back into Mom’s name.
She protested.
“I don’t want you paying it anymore.”
“Good.”
She looked surprised.
I smiled.
“That’s the point.”
She laughed.
Then she signed the paperwork.
From that day forward, Mom paid her own utility bills.
Brooke paid for her own repairs.
And I stopped automatically reaching for my wallet whenever someone had a problem.
Not because I stopped loving them.
Because I finally understood something I should have understood years earlier.
Helping people is generous.
Being expected to rescue them is
