All her life, she’d wanted to lighten her family’s burdens, to drive away the past that haunted them still. She chose to be happy each day precisely because she knew how much worse things could be. She smiled because she couldn’t bear to let them believe they’d failed her for even a moment. Of course it was her responsibility to care for them after everything they’d been through. It was such a small thing to try to give them the comfort they’d never had as children. It was such a small thing to be good.
