I had always been the dependable one who paid bills on time and stayed quiet during family gatherings, which made it easy for everyone to overlook me without much effort.
Halfway through the gift exchange that evening I noticed something strange unfolding in front of me. Tyler opened a luxury watch and waved it proudly in the air while Melissa unwrapped a designer handbag that made my mother clap with excitement, and my father even handed my visiting aunt a white envelope filled with cash as if it were part of the entertainment.
Even my cousin’s toddler received a brightly wrapped toy that my mother insisted we all watch him open.
Meanwhile I sat on a loveseat holding a mug of cocoa that had slowly gone cold in my hands, waiting for someone to call my name. My mother kept laughing, photographing the moment, and moving to the next person without ever glancing in my direction.
Then she suddenly paused and looked around the room like she had just realized something.
“Oh,” she said loudly, “we forgot you.
