we always came first. Like the tree, every time me and my sisters took, she was only willing to give more simply to make us happy. In recent years, I have only begun to understand why the tree was willing to give until it had little left, whether at its detriment or not. It is what people are willing to do when they love something more than they love themselves. I realized that I was the kid who took and took, and I wish I could have realized it sooner. I wish I could have been more gentle with my mother, who sacrificed herself day after day and year after year.
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