My daughter-in-law laughed as she gave me a $2 scratch-off for my 73rd birthday. Ten months later, my own son shoved a senior living brochure in front of me and said, “We already picked your room.” They thought I was too old to fight back. They had no idea what I had been hiding.

Their faces were tired, but the children were smiling.

“Do we look okay?” he asked.

“You look like a family beginning something.”

He took a breath.

“I’ve been wanting to say something for months.

I used you.

Maybe I didn’t mean to, but I did.

I got used to you making things easy.