I Said “No” To Babysitting Once For A Doctor’s Appointment. My Son’s Response: “The Locks Have Been Updated. Please Don’t Come By Right Now.” So I Came Back A Week Later… With A Realtor To Sell The Very House I BOUGHT FOR THEM.

His face was flushed. His eyes glassy. He told me kids at school had made fun of him for wearing old shoes.

I hugged him, dried his tears. But inside I felt shattered. Back then, my salary at the Tree Shoe Shop barely covered food and rent.

I didn’t have a single extra dollar for new sneakers. But seeing him like that, I couldn’t just stand by. I went to the shop.

Got on my knees in front of the owner. Begged for an advance. He looked at me, shook his head, and said flatly,

“Asking for money again.

You can’t even save up for a pair of shoes.”

I gritted my teeth. Lowered my head. Took the money.

Ran to the market to buy him the blue sneakers Edward loved so much. When I gave them to him, his smile lit up my soul. He hugged me tight and said,

“Mom, you’re the best in the world.”

In that moment, I felt it was all worth it.

But now, when I remember the cold look Edward gave me at the door last week, I wonder what happened to that boy. When he went to college, he studied in a city more than three hours away by bus. Every month, I sent him money, even if it meant working extra hours at the shoe shop and cleaning offices at night.

I had two jobs. By day, I sold shoes. By night, I swept and mopped.

Sometimes I’d get home at midnight, my feet aching, but I’d still sit down to cook food to send to Edward. Sometimes corn tamales. Sometimes orange marmalade that I’d started cooking early in the morning.

I just wanted him to study in peace without worrying about anything. In his final semester, he called me in a panic. “Mom, I need a good chunk of money for my final project.

If I don’t turn it in, they won’t let me graduate.”

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