An unusual boy. Small, but with a big heart. He had a whole world inside him that not everyone could see. I knew he would accomplish a lot in life, because his persistence and zeal were hard to ignore.
I’ve always been especially fond of him. I felt truly sorry for him, so I wanted to help him. I wanted to do whatever I could. I often talked to him, gave him something nice to eat, and listened to his long stories. Sometimes I felt like I was treating him like my own child.
He was so thin you could see every bone in his body. His smile, however, lit up the world, only his gloomy, sunken cheeks brought me back to reality. I knew he just couldn’t do it without help.
He lived in a poor family. His mother worked as a nanny in a kindergarten, and his father guarded a construction site. His parents gave him the best of everything, but they often didn’t have enough money even for the bare necessities. They weren’t in the best of situations, but they didn’t ask anyone for help.
My sons were old enough at the time, so I became very attached to the boy. And soon they had a little sister. You should have seen how happy he was about this little miracle. But only after his sister’s birth, their life went downhill. The father started drinking and quit his job. The neighbor’s boy kept showing up with bruises on his body. He just wanted quiet, family happiness, but the reality was far from a child’s dream.
But there was so much hope in his eyes! He was sure that their lives would soon get better, and he would return to his carefree childhood. But the situation only worsened over the years. After his father died, his mother also started to drink.
At that time the boy next door was 13 years old. He had to go to work to support himself and his sister. He was combining it all with school, so he was getting terribly tired. Adult employers often cheated him and didn’t pay him. They knew there was no way the child could get back at them.
One day he came to me in tears and whispered:
«Help me save my mother!»
We decided to go to his aid and take the woman to the clinic. Of course she resisted, but we managed to force her into the car and show her to the doctor. After working with the doctors she became aware of her addiction and realized that she needed to fight it. Alcoholism had helped her cope with the pain of her husband’s death. The problem broke her.
After her recovery, their lives got better. The neighbor’s boy was glowing with happiness and thanked me for not caring. It’s hard to imagine how it would have ended if he hadn’t decided to come to us for help.
A few years later, he even gave me the money he had lent me for his mother’s treatment. It made no sense to refuse, because I would have offended him by my action. After all, he is a man. An example for many, even though he is so young.
