Summary
A touching personal story about growing up in poverty and a childhood secret kept from a wife for over thirty years.
Highlights
Growing up in poverty00:00:00
The narrator reflects on his childhood poverty, recalling how his parents sent him to birthday parties just so he could be fed a meal at someone else's house.
A formative childhood memory00:00:21
A classmate invited him to her birthday party and sleepover. Her mother, aware of the boy's situation, secretly allowed him to choose one of the gifts she had purchased so he would have something to give to her daughter.
A secret preserved for thirty years00:00:44
The girl was deeply moved by the gift, not knowing its true origin. Now married to that girl, the narrator still honors his mother-in-law's request to never reveal the truth about that day.