He gave me his bedroom and took the smaller one. He learned how to braid my hair by watching videos online. He packed my lunch every morning. He showed up to every school event.

To me, he was everything.

— “Grandpa, when I grow up, I want to help kids like you helped me,” I told him once.

He hugged me tight.

— “You can be anything you want, kiddo.”

But we never had much.

No vacations. No extra treats. No spontaneous gifts.

And slowly, something inside me started to change.

Whenever I asked for something—new clothes, a phone, anything—I got the same answer.

— “We can’t afford that.”

I started to hate those words.

While other kids wore brand names, I wore whatever we could find. While they upgraded their phones, I held onto one that barely worked.

I knew it wasn’t his fault.

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