Beneath the photos was a white envelope.
Written on it were the words: “FOR MARCO, WHEN I’M GONE.”
He opened it. The paper was yellowed with age, dated the very day she was said to have “abandoned” him.
My dearest Marco,
If you are reading this, I am no longer here. And perhaps, you are still angry.
My son, I left not because I didn’t love you… but because it was the only way you could live.
When you fell ill with dengue and developed complications in your lungs, you were close to dying. I begged your Aunt Fe. She agreed to pay for your hospital bills—but only on one condition: that I disappear.
“I will save Marco,” she said, “but you must be gone.”
My son, it broke my heart. I wanted to hold you. But I would rather have you hate me than watch you slowly die.
Every time you graduated, I stood just outside the school gate. Every birthday of yours, I lit a candle here in this hut.
Your success… that is the reward for everything I endured.
I love you so much.
— Mom
The letter slipped from Marco’s hands. His eyes widened, his body stiffened, and suddenly he collapsed to his knees. The anger he had carried for two decades shattered in an instant.
His Aunt Fe—whom he believed was his savior—was the true villain all along.
And his mother—whom he thought was selfish—was the one who sacrificed everything so he could live.
“Mom…”
He sobbed uncontrollably, clutching his mother’s old clothes.
“Mom! Please forgive me!”
Mang Karyo took him to the funeral home. When Marco saw his mother’s frail body lying in a simple coffin, he didn’t hesitate. He embraced her, crying like a child.
“Thank you, Mom… for the life you gave me. I’ll make it right.”
After the burial, he did not burn down the hut. Instead, he had it repaired and expanded, turning it into a foundation for orphans and underprivileged children.
In the middle of the hallway hung a large portrait of Aling Rosa.
Engraved beneath it were the words:
“THE MOTHER WHO WALKED AWAY, SO HER CHILD COULD FLY.”