Gately's dreams: Mrs. Waite, and Death (p. 849)
In retrospect, the other kids’ parents let Gately have birthdays with them because they’d felt sorry for him, he’s involuntarily realized.
Context
Sobriety's retrospection in a single sentence: the shared birthday parties, stored as normal childhood, involuntarily re-priced as charity. The memory doesn't change; its meaning detonates late — and "involuntarily" marks that he didn't ask for the upgrade.