When the room filled, I recognized an older woman who had attended my first budgeting class.

Eileen sat in the front row with a notebook balanced on her knees.

I began by admitting something.

“I used to think knowing how financial statements worked meant I could never become financially dependent on someone who mistreated me.

I was wrong.”

No one moved.

“Knowledge helps.

But knowledge isn’t the same as power when someone else controls the passwords, the accounts, and the consequences of asking questions.”