“Because you always took us.”
“Exactly.”
“You never complained.”
That one landed.
Mark leaned back.
“When you asked, I thought you needed me.”
“We did.”
“I know. But I didn’t realize saying yes meant I’d volunteered forever.”
Patricia folded her arms.
“Your father and I spent our whole lives taking care of you children.”
“And I’m grateful.”
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca started to interrupt, but Mark raised a hand.
“Mom, you raised three children. You didn’t raise one caregiver.”
Patricia looked at Susan and Rebecca.
“You girls have your own responsibilities.”
Susan’s expression changed instantly.
“And Mark doesn’t?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“It’s what you’ve been saying for years.”
“Well, somebody had to be nearby.”
Rebecca asked, “Why?”
“Because your father and I are getting older.”
Susan leaned forward.
“And whose job did you decide that was?”
Patricia looked at Mark.
“He’s our son.”
Susan remained perfectly calm.
“And what are we?”
Nobody moved.
Patricia finally explained that their situations were different.
Susan had gone through a divorce.
Rebecca’s family had experienced financial ups and downs.
She and Richard wanted the girls to have security.
Mark nodded.
“That’s your choice.”
“Then why are you punishing us for it?”
“I’m not.”
“You moved fourteen hundred miles away.”
“For a promotion I had already turned down three times.”
“Because you knew we needed you.”
The table went silent.
Patricia heard herself.
So did everyone else.
Mark watched her for several seconds.
“Mom, I never asked you for your money.”
“Then why are we arguing about this?”
“Because you decided I needed nothing from you while assuming you could need everything from me.”
Patricia turned to Richard.
“Are you seriously going to sit there and let them talk to me like this?”
Richard rubbed his forehead.
“Patty.”
“Well?”
He sighed.
“They have a point.”
That hurt her more than anything the rest of us had said.
Susan closed the folder.
“We’re not asking you to change your will.”
Patricia looked suspicious. “Then what are you asking?”
Rebecca answered.
“For things to be fair while you’re alive.”
The siblings had already created a plan.
There would be no default caregiver.
They would rotate scheduled procedures when practical.
If nobody could travel, Richard and Patricia would use professional transportation or paid help.
Contractors would handle home maintenance.
Their accountant would manage financial paperwork.
