When I was 18 years old, just when I received my university admission letter, an incident struck. Both parents suffered from stroke and paralysis almost all over their bodies. The money for hospital fees and medicines has been drained of the money saved for a long time.

The day of admission is coming, I am confused about how to manage. My grandmother looked at me and sighed:
“Or you ride a bicycle to Uncle H.’s house to borrow a little money, finish your studies and pay it back…

Listening to her, I rode a coffee cart nearly ten kilometers to my uncle’s house. Before he could finish saying the sentence “I would like to borrow a little money for admission…”, he shouted:
“My house doesn’t even have enough to eat, who can feed you to study! Return!

Before she had time to recover her soul, my aunt added:
“Where did your father die and ask for you? Why don’t you tell your father to take care of it?

I stood still, clutching the empty white envelope in my hand, then quietly turned the car back, trying to choke so that my grandmother wouldn’t see me crying.

Unable to borrow money, I was going to drop out of school, but luckily I was helped by a scholarship fund. During 4 years of university, I studied and worked part-time, every dollar I earned was saved and sent back to my grandmother to take care of my parents.

After graduating, I applied to join a big company, tried non-stop and after 5 years, became a department manager, earning enough income so that my family was no longer in need.

On the day of my grandmother’s death that year, I brought back an envelope of ₱117,000 and placed it on her altar. After that, I walked to his house, handed him another envelope, and said clearly:
“I keep it, as if I am returning the favor.

He paused:
“But… I can’t help you…

I smiled:
“It was thanks to you that day that I learned that I couldn’t rely on anyone but myself. Thank you for that lesson.

The whole family was silent. He looked at the envelope, his eyes were red. The aunt lowered her face, not daring to say a word.