“You know what? We’re keeping them.”
At the checkout, Mia held her cereal against her chest.
Her camp bracelet was still wrapped around her wrist.
For once, she wasn’t apologizing for wanting something.
I realized then that Denise hadn’t really been banning my daughter.
She had been forcing me to see something I had missed.
Mia didn’t need to become less caring.
She didn’t need to stop helping people.
She simply needed to learn that she belonged on her own list of people worth caring for.
And perhaps that was the most important lesson she brought home from her dream summer camp.
Not how to ride a horse.
Not how to survive three weeks in a cabin.
But how to accept a gift without feeling guilty for receiving it.
Because love isn’t a bill.
And a child should never believe she has to pay it back.
