Perhaps she did. Perhaps she continued telling herself that everyone had overreacted to a simple disagreement about a car.
Either way, I stopped waiting for her to understand.
Instead, I began paying attention to the people who showed up for me without being asked.
I accepted rides when I needed them.
I let Rachel bring dinner when I was exhausted.
I allowed Greg to help me carry groceries without insisting that I could manage everything myself.
And when someone asked me for a favor I couldn’t reasonably give, I learned to say, “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that this time,” without writing an entire speech to justify my decision.
It felt uncomfortable at first.
Then it felt normal.
Months later, Emma and I were driving home from school when she asked me a question.
“Mom, do you think being nice makes people take advantage of you?”
I glanced at her in the rearview mirror.
