By the way, I'm Fred, 25 years old. Since I was young, I've been used to struggling with life's hardships. I didn't graduate, and I've gotten into all sorts of rackets just to feed my mother and me.
But no matter what strategy I used, it was still not enough. It got to the point where the pot was almost empty every night. When I saw my son crying from hunger, it broke my heart.
One day, someone approached my old friend. He said, “You're a tycoon, you're still a tycoon. If you want, I'll teach you how to make money fast.” I didn't know what to think at the time. But because I was desperate, I agreed.
I tried being a callboy. At first, the money was easy. In just one night, I had two thousand. I told myself, maybe this is the answer to my problem. So I tried again and again.
But as time went on, I felt like I was disappearing. No matter how much money I made, I felt like I was sinking deeper and deeper. When I got home, I couldn't look at my husband. He didn't know anything—he thought my racket was still construction.
One night, I met Marco. He wasn't like the other customers. He was quiet, but you could tell he was carrying something heavy. I didn't know why, but even I, calmed down when I was with him. He didn't treat me like a paid guest. He always said, "Fred, you're not a bad person. You just want to get through."
One time we met, he noticed that I was quiet. I mentioned that I had a friend who got sick and told me that he might have HIV. Marco said, “If you want, I’ll go with you to get tested. I won’t leave you.”
At first, I refused. I was so scared to find out the truth. But after a few weeks, I thought, what you don't know is scarier. So I took the test. He held my hand while we waited for the results.
Thank God, I was negative. That day, I felt like half of my soul came back. I cried in front of him. He didn't laugh, he didn't judge. He just hugged me.
Since then, I slowly stopped working. He helped me find a job at a small rice mill. The income wasn't much, but every peso there was clean.
I never thought that in that place, Marco and I would become even stronger together. He would often pick me up after my shift. We used to be worlds apart—but in that place, we were both just simple people who loved each other.
Now, I can't say that my life is perfect. There are days when I still think about my past. But every morning when I wake up with my family and Marco, I am reminded that I can still start over.
I hope one day, I will learn to forgive myself completely. But right now, I am happy. Because even though I came from a dark part of life, someone believed that I was still worthy of love.
If there's anyone out there like me who's losing hope, I just want to say: You're not alone. You always have the chance to get up and love again.
