Some moments divide your life into “before” and “after,” though when they’re happening, you rarely recognize them. For me, it started as an ordinary week and ended with questions I never thought I’d have to ask.
The kitchen was quiet that Tuesday morning, the kind of quiet I usually loved. I had my coffee, my laptop, and 20 minutes before work. That’s when I noticed the first withdrawal by accident.
Six hundred dollars. Gone from my daughter Harper’s college fund.
I scrolled up, then down, then up again, as if the number might rearrange itself if I stared at it long enough.
That’s when I noticed the first withdrawal.
My husband, Owen, and I had been saving into that account since the day our daughter came home from the hospital.
- Birthday money from grandparents.
- Tax refunds.
- Every little bonus I got from work.
Harper was 16 now, already talking about college as if it were a train waiting specifically for her.
“Mom,” she called from the stairs, “did you print my SAT practice sheet?”
