My mother passed away quietly one late-autumn morning, the kind of morning when the air feels thin and the world seems to pause between seasons. Her breathing slowed as gently as an oil lamp running out of fuel, and when it stopped, there was no dramatic moment—only silence. She had lived a life of constant labor and restraint, a woman who measured her days in effort rather than comfort. When she left us, she left no fortune behind. There was no land deed, no bank statement, no jewelry hidden away in drawers.

All that remained was a small, weathered house with peeling paint, a few pieces of worn furniture, and the lingering smell of dried herbs she used to keep insects away. The funeral was simple, attended mostly by neighbors who had known her as a quiet, hardworking woman who never complained. Afterward, my two older brothers and I gathered in the house where we had grown up, sitting around the same wooden table where we had once eaten meals together as children.