When I Told Grandma Ruth My College Fund Was Only $214 She Asked What Channel My Mom Watches at Six

an irrevocable gift from its legal beneficiary, and that distinction had consequences.

“The question,” she said, “is whether your parents understood the difference between being authorized on a financial account and being legally permitted to do whatever they liked with the money in it.”

“I don’t think they thought about it,” I said.

“No,” she said. “I continue reading …