I’ve always given a part of my salary to my parents. After our first child was born, I told them, “Money’s tight right now. You’ll need to take care of yourselves.”The next day, I was shocked to find my wife in tears. She said, “Your mother… she came this morning. She gave me an envelope and said, ‘I know things are hard right now. Take this. You need it more than we do.’”
I froze. I had cut off their support only yesterday, and already my mother was giving back what little she had.When I opened the envelope, there wasn’t much — just a small sum, the kind you’d expect from parents who had lived modestly all their lives. But tucked inside was a note in her familiar handwriting:
“Son, we managed before you started helping us, and we’ll manage again. Family isn’t about who gives more; it’s about who holds each other up when times are tough. Don’t feel guilty — just raise your child with love. That will be enough for us.”I couldn’t hold back my tears.
All my life, I thought I had been supporting them, but in truth, they had always been supporting me — not just with money, but with strength, sacrifice, and unconditional love.That night, I held my wife and child close and whispered a prayer of gratitude. I promised myself that when times got better, I would give back even more — not just money, but the love and care my parents had shown me all along.Because sometimes, the richest people aren’t the ones with the most money, but the ones whose hearts never stop giving.
