Reading your story moved something so deep inside me today. I honestly had to pause because it almost brought me to tears. Your words resonated with my own life in a way I wasn't expecting, and they touched parts of my heart I usually keep guarded.
I grew up facing my own share of scarcity and hardship in a low-income household, and like you, I had to work from a very young age to help my family. But what truly struck my soul was reading about your mother’s boundless love and your father's absence. My biological father was abscent since my very early age. My stepfather was there (he wasn't hardworker😪), it was not the same I guess; as a teenager I was already almost independent working in a hotel and studying. I guess the emotional pain of the absence of my biological father—especially the deep wound of him not being there for my mother's burial, neither my brother who growed up with him —is something I still carry with me. Seeing you honor your mother's sacrifices, her working day and night even when she was sick just to give you and your siblings a future, is incredibly beautiful and validating.
You also mentioned how your mother made education a priority. For me, school was my ultimate refuge from the poverty we faced; I loved it because it offered hope, peace, and a way forward, just as it did for you.
Thank you for being so vulnerable and sharing your journey of pain, patience, and triumph! Your mother must be so incredibly proud of the resilient, successful person you’ve become. I join you in your beautiful closing prayer—may God have mercy on my own mother who has passed away, and bless yours. Thank you for this powerful reminder of a mother's unconditional love!! 😘 Blessings always!
