You know when you do something, and you know it’s bad, but it’s like a secret little comfort that you can’t let go of? That’s me right now. My parents… they’re real strict. Always have been. My dad was in the army, and it’s like our house is still a base sometimes. Everything’s gotta be perfect, you gotta earn your keep, you gotta be strong. No weakness allowed. So when I started making some decent money with my graphic design stuff — just little logos and social media pics for local businesses — it felt… weird. It’s way more than I ever thought I’d make, more than my dad made for ages when he first got out. And you know how it is, sometimes you just… want things to be easy. My parents still pay my rent for my apartment. Every month, they send the money, and they tell me how proud they are that I’m trying to make it as a designer, even if it’s tough. They think I’m barely scraping by, eating ramen every night. But I’m not. I’ve got enough saved up now to pay my own rent for like, a whole year. And I could just tell them. I could just say, “Hey, I got this.” But I don’t. I just… let them keep sending the money. And it feels awful. Like I’m a total fraud. They sacrificed so much for me, always telling me about how hard they worked so I wouldn’t have to struggle. It’s just… it’s hard to talk to them about money, or really anything that shows I’m doing okay without them. It feels like if I’m not struggling, I’m not… trying hard enough? Or like I’m being lazy. When dad was deployed, mom was so strong all the time, never complained, just kept everything going. And I feel like I have to be like that. So I just let them keep doing it. And every time that rent money hits my account from them, I feel this sick feeling in my stomach. Like I’m stealing from them, even though they’re sending it. It’s just easier than telling them I don’t need it anymore. And that’s the REAL messed-up part, isn’t it? That I want it to be easier so bad that I’m being a terrible person.