For years, I was the mother who always said yes. I put everyone else first, even when I was exhausted and had nothing left to give. But after a painful family vacation in Brittany, my daughter finally realized what she had been doing to me. And at 62, I discovered something I should have learned decades earlier: loving your family should never mean losing yourself.

EditoronLeave a Comment on For years, I was the mother who always said yes. I put everyone else first, even when I was exhausted and had nothing left to give. But after a painful family vacation in Brittany, my daughter finally realized what she had been doing to me. And at 62, I discovered something I should have learned decades earlier: loving your family should never mean losing yourself.

At 62, I Finally Learned That I Had the Right to Say No

Part 2 — The Journey Back to Brittany

The story continues in English, picking up where Mireille and Claire arrive in Brittany.

Claire looked at me with a small smile.

“So, Mom, what would you like to do first?”

The question surprised me.

Not because it was difficult to answer, but because I had spent so many years asking everyone else what they wanted that I had almost forgotten how to answer that question for myself.

I was always the one making plans, checking the time, preparing meals, and making sure nobody needed anything.

I was the one who remembered everything.

I was the one who made sure everyone was comfortable.

And somewhere along the way, I had stopped asking myself whether I was comfortable, too.

I looked out of the window. At the end of the street, I could see a narrow strip of blue sky.

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