My parents learned about it through an annual report.
Dad sent me one email.
**You always needed to prove you were better than us.**
I read it once.
Then archived it.
He was still trying to turn my life into a competition I had never agreed to enter.
The truth was much simpler.
Growing up, my parents treated attention like something I had to earn.
If I was useful, impressive, or convenient, they noticed me.
Otherwise, they disappeared into their own lives.
Grandpa was different.
He asked what I was reading.
He remembered my interviews.
He attended my graduation.
When I lost my first major case, he drove two hours just to have dinner with me and never once asked whether losing might damage my career.
By the time I became successful, I no longer needed my parents to witness it.
