if i'm not okay, that's okay too

This week I read The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. It is an astounding memoir. Jeannette and her siblings are severely neglected by their parents. When she is three years old, she is standing on a chair boiling hot dogs when her dress catches on fire. She ends up in the hospital with severe burns. She writes:

I could tell that I was causing a big fuss, and I stayed quiet. One of them [nurses] squeezed my hand and told me I was going to be okay.

"I know," I said, "but if I'm not, that's okay too."

My childhood was paradise compared to Ms. Wall's, but I understand this little girl completely. Throughout the book she takes care of everyone else before herself. This is a hard habit to break. I see myself doing this all of the time. In the immortal words of Dr. Phil, How is this working for me?

B