I cried in EO

 

 

 

I got my 13th-month pay this payday, and the first thing I did was take my mom to EO. For years, she's been using eyeglasses that didn't have the correct grade. She just bought them from drugstores where they sell fixed-grade glasses because they were cheap and that's all she could afford. When we got to EO, I let her choose any frame she liked. I didn’t give her a budget limit because I wanted her to pick something that made her feel good about how she looked.

We also had her eyes checked, and that’s when I found out how bad her eyesight had become. Even those drugstore reading glasses weren’t really helping her anymore. I couldn’t stop myself from tearing up—both from pity and guilt, wondering why it took me this long to buy her proper glasses. But I’ve also been struggling financially as the family’s breadwinner.

Still, I felt so happy knowing that Mama finally has the right glasses and can now see clearly—even my pretty face. I love you, Ma. I just don’t know how to say it to you directly. I hope this is one way of showing it. You’ve always given us what you could. Now it’s my turn to give back, one small step at a time.