After I Stopped Eating Leftovers, My Whole Family Wept With Regret

For as long as I can remember, everything I owned was secondhand.

The water bottle I carried in grade school was Cynthia Henson's old baby bottle.

In middle school, Mom made Cynthia a different fancy lunch every single day.

My lunch was always whatever Cynthia couldn't finish.

Three years boarding at high school.

I slept under a torn sheet Cynthia had kicked to shreds, and my skincare was whatever freebies came with her shopping.

Every year my parents booked out an upscale restaurant for Cynthia's birthday.

My birthday cake was always the free cookies the restaurant threw in.