They Said I Would Always Come Last—So I Stepped Away And Let Them Feel It

indifferent to the emotional drama unfolding.

My parents had spent the week packing their lives into boxes, culling forty years of accumulated possessions down to what would fit in a one-bedroom apartment.

I watched from my car across the street, drinking coffee, as they loaded a U-Haul with furniture, photo albums, and the detritus of a life they’d continue reading …