Grew up the same, never had special clothes or gifts for friends parties/bat mitzvahs/etc. When I was in 6/7th grade a friends mother took me out the day before our grade groups dance and let me buy anything I wanted from Macy's. I had just moved to the US, a very rich area, from the EU in a low income area. I got the least expensive dress in my size I could find, planning to pay most or all of it out of my own pocket, when the mother said "its easier to pay all on one (her) card". I said thank you and offered to pay for our dinner but she said no again. This continued for two years. The next morning before she left she gave me tights, shoes etc that I hadn't thought of. Thing's I'd only ever owned second or third hand. At the time I didn't realise she knew my family were broke. Its 10ish years later and I still think of her every time I buy something lavish. She never made it obvious to my friend that I was broke. Never made me feel ashamed or pittied. I keep in touch with both her kids, though we have gone different paths, I dont think they know how much their mother fed, clothed, and homed me for several years. To this day she checks up on me. It was the kindest thing a stranger with no motive has ever done for me.

When I was a kid the other moms in the class bought me shoes every time I needed them. They said they were left over or unneeded but I realized as an adult that all the kids in the class likely didn’t have my same shoe size and they always fit well.

I came into their house sobbing because my mom was being horrible in the car on the drive over. She wa pissed at me for asking for a ride over. Was going on and on about how I couldn't make friends whose parents picked me up. Jennifer's mom was great. Made me feel welcome and comforted me without ever saying one bad thing to me about my mother. That night she came down to say goodnight. She kissed her daughter and told her good night and that she loved her. Then, sh*t I'm crying writing this, she did the same to me. My parents not once kissed me or told me that they loved me. That is till the night my mother lay dying. It was just her and me in the hospital. She finally told me that she loved me. It was too late. I told her that I didn't believe her.

When i was 9 years old, my primary school, my teacher and class, planned a "bring your own food" lunch. This meant that you were supposed to bring snacks, soda drinks, or even your own recipes. I didn't explain it properly to my mom, so she said "take this half empty bag of chips", which is completely unnaceptable to take anywhere, for obvious reasons. I brought to my class with a "One Punch Man face" of complete lack of understanding of how ridiculous i looked, and how humillianting and poor my family made me look like. My mom didn't try to make me look bad, nor she is a bad person, she just thought i was going somewhere with my friends and might have thought i wanted to eat something. I showed half a bag of chips to my teacher, she freaked out and told me to leave the room because if i had no food i couldn't participate. (Where the f#%k am i supposed to go now). I was the only one to leave the room and sat near a big wall outside of the building facing towards the school's gate, still inside the school perimeters. Then this random woman (probably a visitor to the school or something) came in the school, talked with me and i told her what happened. She just got up, said "I'l be right back", came back and gave me a plastic bag full, with at least 5 different chip brands (Lays,Cheetos,Ruffles, Doritos and Pringles). I had no idea what was happening, i didn't know her, and i was a total NPC just saying yes and following her around. She took me back to my class AND PRETENDED TO BE MY AUNT WHO LEFT WORK TO HELP ME, SHE LIED TO MY TEACHER. To this day, i wonder who that lady was! That is the weirdest most beautiful moment of my life.