Chapter 3 — She Took Care of Everything

And she took care of far more than the baby.

When I came home late from the office — and I came home late nearly every night — Maya was bathed and fed and content.

The laundry was folded.

A warm meal sat waiting on the stove.

The house was spotless.

My mother had quietly taken the entire weight of our domestic life onto her own shoulders, so that David and I could pour ourselves into our jobs, and she did it without complaint, and mostly without thanks, because we were too tired and too busy to give much of either.

I tried to compensate her the only way my exhausted, distracted mind knew how: with money and things.