I had finally stopped trying to pull my sister out of flames she kept relighting herself.

That was, in its own way, one of the hardest lessons of the whole ordeal, and one I resisted for a long time, because it went against every instinct I had as a sister and as a person who wanted to believe that everyone could be saved.

For most of my life, I had been Gwen’s rescuer.

When she overspent, I quietly helped.

When she alienated someone, I smoothed it over.