One day, in a Facebook group where people post job offers, I found an ad looking for someone to clean the house of Doña Carmen, an elderly woman who lived alone in a small alley near the city center.
The first time I went to her house, I was struck by how fragile she looked.
Doña Carmen was very thin, with completely white hair and trembling hands resting on a cane.
Her house was a small old home filled with worn objects:
a radio that no longer worked, several faded photographs hanging on the wall, and a wooden bed worn down by the years.
She told me she suffered from rheumatism and high blood pressure, and that it was very difficult for her to walk, which was why she needed someone to clean the house once a week.
The job was simple: sweep, dust, and wash a few dishes.
She promised to pay me 200 pesos for each visit.
For a student like me, that money meant a lot.
During the following visits, I began to notice how difficult her life really was.
The refrigerator was almost always empty—just a few eggs and a bunch of wilted vegetables. Many times her meal was simply rice with a little sauce.
When I asked her why she lived like that, she told me her children lived far away and that she didn’t want to bother them.
I felt very sorry for her.
So after finishing the cleaning, I started staying a little longer to go to the market, buy some meat or fish, and cook her a proper meal.
Doña Carmen loved it when I cooked.
Her eyes would light up every time she tasted the hot broth I made for her.
Sometimes, when the pain in her joints became too strong, I would take her to the public hospital myself and patiently wait until they gave her medication.
One time, while we were leaving the hospital, she took my hand and said in a soft voice:
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