My Parents Chose a Birthday Dinner Over My Family’s Funeral—Then They Asked for Thirty Percent of the $18.7 Million Settlement

I looked at the shoe.

“Dad had a dinner party.”

Her hand tightened around the purse strap.

Then she put an arm around my shoulders.

We stayed there until the light changed.

Eventually, she asked whether I wanted to go inside or remain where we were.

I said inside.

She did not treat that as progress.