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.

我从小家境贫寒，只有一个吸毒成瘾的妈妈。我们经常没钱买吃的，我总是饥肠辘辘。

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岁生日时(1986年)，几个亲戚被邀请到一个公园给我过生日。没有蛋糕、没有礼物、也没有任何问题。只有我的姑姑是个例外，她手里拿着一个信封。

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.

在大家唱生日快乐歌之前，我看到一个小男孩，年纪大概和我相仿，还有一个女的，他们在公园的垃圾箱里找吃的。我突发奇想，请求妈妈邀请他们来我的生日聚会，但妈妈不喜欢陌生人，她没同意。

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.

我被他们吸引了，我不知道还有人跟我一样挣扎着过日子，这使我的心很疼。大家唱歌时我看着他们，姑姑递给我信封时我看着他们，我打开信封时依旧看着他们，突然我发信封里装着一张褶皱的100美元纸币。妈妈很生气姑姑竟然给我这么多钱，我觉着在花钱方面姑姑比妈妈更信任我。

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.

我们很穷，一个星期里有3天吃不上饭，我的童年过得很苦，但从来没有翻垃圾箱找吃的。

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.

姑姑一直在说服妈妈，她告诉我我能随意支配这笔钱，所以我就自己拿主意了。我朝垃圾箱旁边的男孩和他妈妈走过去，我向男孩解释说那天是我的生日，我收到了 $100的礼物，我想把钱给他们。他们感动得痛哭流涕，说了很多感谢的话。

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见过的唯一的钱给别人对自己有多大影响，妈妈却从未有过这种感觉。那天晚上我为自己的行为付出了巨大的代价，但一切都值得。

I think about that boy and his mother often.

我经常会想起那个男孩和他的妈妈。