her meals, organized her medicine, and helped her through nights when she could no longer remember where she was. Vivian visited twice a year. Dale called when it suited him.
Within a week, Dale suggested selling the farm and splitting the money equally. He claimed it would protect me from the physical work, unpaid bills, and future debt. Vivian was less careful, accusing me of manipulating our mother and isolating her from the family. Their words hurt because they transformed my years of sacrifice into evidence against me. For several days, I considered surrendering the property simply to end the fighting. Then I remembered one of Mom’s final clear afternoons, when she had squeezed my hand and whispered,
