Ofelia (my grandma) was born in the Philippines in 1939, lived through WW2, and has always been a provider for others, a mother, and an incredibly hard worker. During the war she would hide in the swamps during the day, breathing through bamboo to hide from soldiers. At night, they would all sleep in the trees to avoid being kidnapped.

Nearly 20 of them lived in a one bedroom home. When her daughter and son went to school, my grandma would wash their one pair of clothing each, every night to be clean for school the next day. When her daughter (my mom) needed to go to high school my grandma left her home and went to Saudi Arabia for the better part of a decade to put her kids through school. Sending entire paychecks for years, she sacrificed her own livelihood for her kids. At 50, she came to America with nothing and has worked so incredibly hard since - sadly when you move here so late as an immigrant, you can imagine it was very difficult. She can’t afford to live alone and I brought her into my apartment to give her just a snippet of what she deserves in this life.

I don’t tell you this to make you feel bad for her, but I do tell you this to see how incredible this woman is. She has never once complained about anything in this life, and it would mean the world to me if she could have this life changing amount to not have to worry about money at 85 years old.