Mommy, I'll Be Good and Go Die

Mom always said my birthday was her day of suffering, so she never allowed me to celebrate it.

But Chloe… she always had a grand birthday party every year.

I cried, begging Mom to let me celebrate just once.

Mom, however, pulled out the annual statement and threw it in front of me: "This year, I've spent a whopping five thousand eight hundred fifty dollars and six cents on you."

"You useless burden, after all the money I've poured into you, you still expect a birthday celebration?"

I didn't understand. Our family wasn't poor, yet Mom remembered every penny, even the cost of an ice cream.