Talia here thought love meant doing everything so no one else had to.
I kept the house clean, the fridge filled, the baby fed, the teenager (barely) on time, and my husband from collapsing under his construction boots.
I considered that enough.
However, when my son laughed at me with his pals, I realized I had established a world where being needed had become taking for granted.
I have 2 sons.
Eli, 15, has bladed teenage vigor. He is moody, inattentive, and preoccupied with his phone and hair. He’s my boy at heart. He was, at one point. He hardly looks up when I speak lately. Grunts, sarcasm, and extended sighs. He may have said “Thanks” to me.