Meanwhile, I’ve been cast in the role of “the irresponsible one,” a label which, in my family’s unique dictionary, simply refers to the one who does all the work but receives none of the credit.

Growing up, Anna always had the best of everything, a fact that was presented as the natural order of things. Her birthdays were large, sprawling garden festivities, complete with rented bounce castles that sagged in the Texas heat and patient ponies that plodded in circles with squealing children on their backs.