LOST AND FOUND

Ang hirap maging mahirap.

Ang hirap sagutin ng "Bakit hindi ka nakapag-college? Hindi naman sagabal ang kahirapan sa pag-aaral." Edi kayo na lang mag-aral.

Ang hirap maging breadwinner sa pamilya habang nag-aaral ka pa. Ang hirap tanggapin pag 'yung nanay mo iniwan kayo at gumawa ng panibagong pamilya. Ang hirap intindihin ng tatay mong laging nag-iinom kahit walang makain. Ang hirap maging pautangan ng mga kapatid mong palaging nakakalimutan bayaran ka. Ang hirap magpanggap na okay ka sa harap nila.

I lost everything in order to save them.

I was at Aling Carina's Karenderya and there was a young boy like me who loved pansit and shanghai. He was the first guy who offered me an umbrella because it was raining. I'm an independent woman but I let him walk with me. He accompanied me until I got home.

We became friends, and Aling Carina's Karenderya became our meeting place. The rain was the reason we got closer, but it was also the reason why I never see him again.

I couldn't find him, and I lost myself again.

I was in the middle of finding myself, but he found me. He found me because he saw beyond my struggles and hardships. He saw the strength in me that I didn't know I had. He saw the woman who was fighting to survive, to provide for her family, and to keep going despite the obstacles.

I lost myself so many times, and he's the only one who found me. He found me not because I was lost, but because he recognized the light in me that was struggling to shine through.