What I Learned from My Mom Anonymous

Hair a mess, eyelids heavy, and bags under her eyes: every day I would see my mom come home, looking like this, tired from a day’s load of work. My mother, who had me at a young age, was forced to raise and support me all on her own. Where was my father? He was gone doing what he pleased, whereas my mom had to sacrifice her whole life in order to give me a life better than she had. Because my mom did not have a high school diploma when she had me, she had to work mediocre jobs in order to make ends meet. But even with working two to three jobs at a time, it was never enough. This, moreover, taught me to be a hard worker, like my mom, and to never give up.

As I child, when I would go to the toy selection in a store I would look at the price tags before I would even look at the toys. If nothing was in an acceptable price range I would leave empty handed. I knew that with no child support coming her way, my mom would not be able to afford it on her own. Although she claims to be truthful with me all the time, she would never tell me if she could not afford something; instead I would see the pain in her eyes when looking at the price tag. Some may say that it is my mother’s fault, that she told me to too much at a young age, but she...