2024-12-28 13:02
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The night before Christmas, I stayed up late, staring at the empty space under the tree. I had tried everything—extra shifts, selling what little we had—but it still wasn’t enough.
The cupboards held just enough for a modest meal. There would be no gifts, no surprises, no magic for my children when they woke up. The guilt weighed heavier than any burden I’d carried before.