A Penny for your Future

I came from a poor family, one that had many children alongside me, always struggling to get by day in and day out. We do however have quite a few rich relatives, ones who lived life in a comparatively luxurious way, in our eyes at least.

It was as if our family was the only unfortunate one to be in that state during those times. The only one that was forced to struggle amongst our familial circle, to make do with whatever we could find. I grew up begging for food to eat and clothes to wear from these rich relatives, it was my way of survival. My parents never wanted me to go to school back then because they did not have the means to sustain my education at all, we could barely eat twice a day.

I really loved reading books and learning new things, so I decided to run errands for my uncle, my father’s brother who was also well-off. He had a huge library at his home which he agreed to let me use in any spare time I found. As any in my situation would be, I was thrilled, I had a big motivation to work now.

One day, my uncle asked me to be my cousin’s, or well, his daughter’s chaperone. My work would be to accompany my cousin to her extra-school activities and to do errands for her. Accompany her when she asked, deliver to her what she needed, clean what was needed to be cleaned and in general be a little helper for the girl.

In a bright Saturday morning, my cousin asked me to sweep the floor of her mother’s office and I did so diligently. It was then that while sweeping those marbled floors, I found a 25 cents coin laying on the floor. Back then I was thinking that if I could have it as mine, I can have a bit of food to eat later when I finish up with my duties for the day.

There was nobody looking at me when I found it as I was the only person inside the office. I had a hard time debating with myself on what I was going to do with that 25 cents, at the time it was important to the youthful me.

But finally, I decided to do what I thought was right. Putting the coin inside my skirt’s pocket and continuing with my sweeping. After doing my job, I went to my aunt and returned the 25 cents I found earlier to their rightful owner. Although my stomach grumbled from hunger, I realized that the money was hers because I found it in her office, I was nine years old back then.

When I returned the coin to my aunt she smiled and told me that I could have the coin. I took the money and was so happy to have it, for a little girl’s world, that small bit of money meant everything. My aunt told my cousin what I did and with that, they decided to send me to school with all of expenses paid.

I never knew that those 25 cents will lead me to where I am now. My cousin saw to it that I regularly go to school. She would always inquire from my mother if I were doing my lessons and she dreamt big dreams for me. I did not have any dreams before, all I knew was that I want to read books and learn new things. With my cousin’s help, I learned how to build dreams. She showed me good things in life. She was always inspiring me to be honest and stay the way I was.

Years passed, people and places changed, my cousin took up a secretarial course and I took up accountancy, becoming the only one of five children in my family to graduate with a diploma. After school finished, she became good in her work, great even, but being a secretary is not a profession that will lead you to rising into a higher position. If you wanted to reach newer heights, you would have to reach out to them. And my cousin did just that, with her bold decision to work in a different country, far away from home, friends, or family.

I always admired her for her choice, it was not an easy one, but it was something that many dreamt of doing in pursuit of success. I knew that if anyone could, she would be able to find that success. So, I chose to believe in her, and help her out in my own way.

When she was preparing all her things for her trip, I gave her a golden ring with four diamonds embedded on its sides. I told her that she could do whatever she wanted with that ring and that I gave that to her as a token of the trust she showed me in my youth. If life should fail her in the country where she would go, I told her that she could sell that ring to have something to spend. It was my payback for the good deeds she had done for me during the course of my life.

Looking back at that same life, now that I am a Certified Public Accountant, a Juris Doctor, and a Professor in a prominent university here in our country. I would always remember that 25 cents and my cousin’s generosity. The honesty I showed through that 25 cents led me to the wonderful life I have now, a life that I never imagined in my youth.

People say that honesty is such a lonely word… To me, honesty is such an incredibly lucky word that if partnered with generosity, would make little wonders appear one after another in a person’s life, and lead them to a better road to follow.