And a rescue, however well-intentioned, quietly reinforces the very belief that trapped the person in the first place: the belief that they are not the author of their own life, that their fate is in someone else’s hands, that they need a more powerful person to grant them their freedom.

I did not want to rescue Patricia.

I wanted to do the opposite.

I wanted to hand her back the tools that had been stolen from her — her money, her leverage, her independent standing — and then get out of the way, and let her rescue herself, which she then proceeded to do more thoroughly than any rescuer ever could have done for her.

The foundation is hers.