I grew up very poor and with a single mom in the throws of addiction. Often there was no money for food, and I was hungry a lot.

我從小家境貧寒，只有一個吸毒成癮的媽媽。我們經常沒錢買吃的，我總是饑腸轆轆。

On my fifth birthday (1986), a couple close family members were invited to go to a park to celebrate my birthday. No cake, no presents, not a problem. Except for my auntie. She had an envelope in her hand.

在我5歲生日時(1986年)，幾個親戚被邀請到一個公園給我過生日。沒有蛋糕、沒有禮物、也沒有任何問題。只有我的姑姑是個例外，她手里拿著一個信封。

Before everyone sang happy birthday, I saw a little boy, probably my age, and a woman, digging in the park dumpster for food. Something happened to me. I begged my mom to invite them to my party but my mother was not a fan of strangers. She said no.

在大家唱生日快樂歌之前，我看到一個小男孩，年紀大概和我相仿，還有一個女的，他們在公園的垃圾箱里找吃的。我突發奇想，請求媽媽邀請他們來我的生日聚會，但媽媽不喜歡陌生人，她沒同意。

I was intrigued, I didn’t know others struggled like me, it hurt my heart. I watched them as everyone sang. I watched them when my auntie handed me an envelope. I watched them as I opened it until I saw the contents, a crisp 100 dollar bill. My mother was enraged that my auntie would give me such a large amount of money. I think my auntie trusted me more than my mother with cash.

我被他們吸引了，我不知道還有人跟我一樣掙扎著過日子，這使我的心很疼。大家唱歌時我看著他們，姑姑遞給我信封時我看著他們，我打開信封時依舊看著他們，突然我發信封里裝著一張褶皺的100美元紙幣。媽媽很生氣姑姑竟然給我這么多錢，我覺著在花錢方面姑姑比媽媽更信任我。

We were poor, I didn’t eat 3 days a week, I had a very hard childhood. But I had never dug in a dumpster for food.

我們很窮，一個星期里有3天吃不上飯，我的童年過得很苦，但從來沒有翻垃圾箱找吃的。

My auntie kept talking over my mother, telling me, I can do ANYTHING I want with that money. So I did. I walked to the dumpster to the boy and his mother. I explained to the boy that it was my birthday and my one present was a $100, and I wanted to give it to them. There were so many tears and thank yous.

姑姑一直在說服媽媽，她告訴我我能隨意支配這筆錢，所以我就自己拿主意了。我朝垃圾箱旁邊的男孩和他媽媽走過去，我向男孩解釋說那天是我的生日，我收到了 $100的禮物，我想把錢給他們。他們感動得痛哭流涕，說了很多感謝的話。

I, and my auntie, understood how powerful it was to give the only money I’ve ever seen away. My mother never did. I paid dearly for the action that night. But it was worth it.

我和姑姑理解把自己見過的唯一的錢給別人對自己有多大影響，媽媽卻從未有過這種感覺。那天晚上我為自己的行為付出了巨大的代價，但一切都值得。

I think about that boy and his mother often.

我經常會想起那個男孩和他的媽媽。