MY GRANDFATHER RAISED ME ALONE AFTER MY PARENTS DIED. TWO WEEKS AFTER HIS FUNERAL, I FOUND OUT HE’D BEEN HIDING THE TRUTH FROM ME MY ENTIRE LIFE.

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“Anything at all.”

But love didn’t mean abundance.

We never had much.
No family vacations.
No dining out.
No surprise gifts “just because.”Family games

As I grew older, I began to notice a pattern.

“Grandpa, can I get new clothes?”
“Everyone at school has those jeans.”

He always answered the same way.

“We can’t afford it, kiddo.”

I hated that sentence.

I hated wearing secondhand clothes while everyone else flaunted brand names.
I hated my outdated phone that barely worked.
And worst of all, I hated myself for feeling angry at the man who had given me everything he could.

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