But they meant everything, because they were the first thing I had given that family in seven years that was freely, unmistakably mine to give or withhold — and in that freedom, at last, the giving felt clean.

That is the whole difference.

Servitude is generosity you are not allowed to stop.

Dignity is generosity you could stop at any moment, and choose, freely, to continue.

I will be generous for the rest of my life.

But never again by obligation.

Only, ever again, by choice.

A year later, my company held its annual gala at a downtown hotel, and I stood on the stage in an elegant navy gown and accepted the Executive of the Year award, and as the room applauded, warmly and at length, I felt a pride that had nothing to do with any of them, and everything to do with the woman who walked out of that courthouse alone.