I Paid My Father $250 in Rent Every Month for Five Years. After His Funeral, His Best Friend Gave Me a Key and a Box.

“My dad thinks it’s a waste,” she said quietly.

The sentence struck me harder than I expected.

I resisted the urge to criticize a parent I’d never met.

Instead, I asked what he worried about.

She said money, mostly, and whether she’d be able to afford to live on her own.

“Those are reasonable worries,” I said.