Kevin L In a heartwarming tale of love transcending financial disparities, one individual’s upbringing showcases the profound essence of happiness. Raised in a family with vastly different economic backgrounds, they experienced the luxurious world of their father’s 8-figure income and the humble struggles of their hardworking mother earning $26,000 annually. Yet, amidst the divergence, the true value of love and emotional connections shone brighter than any material wealth.
The following story comes from a thread that asked what it feels like to grown up rich.
I come from both backgrounds. Father has an 8-figure income, compared to my mother working on 26,000 a year. They divorced, and my mother got custody. Most of my childhood was spent living on a crazy budget. I was a simple video game playing nerd growing up. At my mothers, she could only afford one game and system for me (around 6 years old), and I selected the GameCube and super smash Bros. Thankfully, that was enough to keep me occupied for a few years. Years. eventually I got a PC, and have been able to get most of my games for cheap.
AdvertisementOver the weekends (every other one) I went over to my dads. Because of the rivalry with my mother (aka, “who’s the better parent”), my father would ask me for a list of games or anything else I wanted, and in 2 weeks it would be there. When I was 17 I asked for a jet ski. Before that I never asked for anything over $80, maybe a really good fishing tackle box, but that’s about it. Fast forward 2 weeks, and there’s a $15,000 jet ski in his backyard (he lived on the water). The best thing about being rich is the comfort, convenience, and general happiness.
The worst part? It’s not true happiness. True happiness is feeling loved.
2 years ago, my mother made me a bank account linked to her name. Whenever something happened with her account (deposit, etc), I’d get an email. When I was 16, I asked for An upgrade to my gaming PC. My planned upgrades were 600, and I said I’d help around the house and get a job myself (which I did) to pay her back.Next day? I get 2 emails. One is a notification of a $1500 purchase from Amazon for a PC, and the next one saying that the account has gone in the negative. -1350 on the account. I never told her that I knew, and I’m happy that I haven’t.
Saying “I love you” is one thing but doing it is another.
Since paying off that payment (took me 3 months), my mother got Graves disease (among other things), and had to stop working. Even though I’m in college, I go back once a month (5 hour train ride) to help her clean the house, cook, shop, etc. I pay for most of it too.
No game system, jet ski, boat, smart tv, etc… my dad buys for me could EVER even compare to my mothers true love.