— You’re exaggerating.
“No. I’m just learning to protect my life,” I replied.
I hung up and felt that for the first time, instead of losing my family, I had gained self-respect.
After a few months, my relationship with Klara improved. She visited me and told me she would never have agreed to the apartment if she had known the pressure I was under. I smiled and once again wished her luck.
To this day, I haven’t reconciled with my parents. Not because I don’t love them, but because I’ve come to understand something many Romanians are afraid to say: your family has no right to demand your life just because they gave it to you.
Respect isn’t inherited. It has to be earned.
