Shy Smiles

I unlocked the mailbox and took the stack of envelopes with me. I gave hubby his and started opening mine. The first one had a photo of a boy with a shy smile. "He's grown so quickly," I said to my partner and showed him the photo. He handed me a picture of another boy of the same age, and we both beamed with pride.

They are our children. Well, not exactly. We just help with the costs of their education. I'm not claiming we're good people who want to give these kids a chance. I'm just a corporate whore who remains a teacher at heart. Hubby has deep-seated issues with the lack of financial support from his dad in the past. Maybe this is our way of addressing personal frustrations.

I leafed through the rest of my mail. My bank statement confirmed that I have received my first salary. Having had no income in the past year, thoughts of a new jacket, desert boots and the iPhone 4s ran through my head. They lasted for only a fraction of a second though. I set aside some money for the future. And wrote a check for somebody else's.