I wondered whether my mother ever dared to imagine what her best could look like. Did she ever have the luxury to envision a best made up of decisions that were good for her without feeling selfish and guilty? The kind of best that was truly hers and hers alone? A best that didn’t make her feel that if she wasn’t living for someone else’s happiness, she wasn’t worthy of love? A best that didn’t ask her to justify her existence by being useful to others? A best that didn’t ask her to mute her fire so that someone else’s could burn brighter? A best that didn’t require that she give away every
...more
