But the thanks never came. Instead, each gift was received as an entitlement. Each payment expected rather than appreciated. Phone calls became less about genuine connection and more about thinly veiled financial requests.

“Rebecca, the property taxes are due.”

Or, “Rebecca, Stephanie needs a new laptop for school.”

Years passed like this, with me building my career in Boston while serving as the family ATM from afar. I made senior financial adviser by twenty-eight, a huge achievement that went completely unacknowledged by my family. When I called to share the news, my mother interrupted me with concerns about the water heater.

The distance between us grew, not just in miles, but in a vast, desolate emotional chasm. Holidays became complicated negotiations that usually ended with me spending them alone in my Boston apartment, fabricating excuses about work commitments to avoid the suffocating awkwardness of going home. Friends invited me to their family celebrations, but I always declined, not wanting to intrude on their traditions while secretly envying their easy, loving familial bonds.’