Wednesday 24 December 2014
 |
| Courtesy of: Markus Spiske |
I was never really given a personal allowance, instead, I
was always given a sum of money every week that would be enough for my commute
to school, and anything else I needed. Money for personal use, well, that
wasn’t really something I had growing up.
Part of it was because money was tight, but that was
something my parents never wanted me to know. They took it upon themselves to
hide anything that may indicate financial struggle. Even though I never had an
allowance, I didn’t think I needed one, because when I was a kid, when I wanted
something, they would give it to me. Every time.
My parents struggled to put me through school, mainly
because they wanted me to go to the best private school in the Philippines, and
not once did they complain about shouldering the huge expense by working longer
hours and placing themselves in debt.
I only learned about our financial situation when we moved
to Canada, when I was finally old enough to understand why they did all that
they did, and why they never wanted me to learn about their hardship. They just
loved me so much, they didn’t want me to be bothered with all the stress of not
knowing how to pay the month’s bills or this year’s tuition.
Damn.
So now that I have a job, now that I earn money to pay for
my own tuition, I think it’s only fitting to pay them back. Every time I get my
paycheck, I save some of it for my parents. I have a plan, you see.
Every Christmas, starting from way back when I was five, my
parents would always surprise me by pretending to have forgotten about what I
wanted, then giving the gift to me when the day was over; it’s a tradition that
has so much more meaning to me now that I know the full story behind everything
they’ve ever done.
My plan is that with the sum of money I’ve stashed away,
I’ll use it to buy them the things they want, and as it grows, so will the
gifts. Small gifts for now, given that I’ve only been working for a few months
or so, but as the years go by and as (hopefully) my paycheck grows and the sum
increases, I can give them the things they’ve gone without just for my sake.
I’m a simple guy with no real need for anything other than
food and internet connection, so who knows, maybe with enough time and effort I
can get them a vacation in Hawaii for the Winter, and, maybe with my brother
and sister, buy them a house when we’ve all grown up. It’s the very least I can
do.
- Carlo
