By the time Grandpa passed away, I had already accepted my place in the family. But what happened after the will was read made me realize I’d been wrong all along.
I’m Angelica, 25, the youngest of five.
By the time I was old enough to remember anything clearly, it was just Grandpa and us. He stepped in after our parents died in a car accident, just him, five kids, and a small house.
It was just Grandpa and us.
Every morning at 5 AM, like clockwork, I’d hear Grandpa in the kitchen. Then the hum of the coffeemaker and the quiet snap of that same old metal lunch box closing.
My siblings couldn’t wait to leave when they got older. Matthew went first, then Jake, Kirk, and finally Jessica. They relocated to different cities, living their individual lives.
None of them looked back.
But I stayed.
