When I was younger, I always knew my parents had trouble with money.

当我是个孩子的时候，我知道父母经常缺钱用。

We would go to yard sales all the time,

我们总是买邻居转卖的二手物品

buy everyday supplies at Dollarama

日常用品都是从二手商店买来的

and work at and eat at a soup kitchen 4 nights a week.

每周有四天，我们会在夜晚去救济食堂干活，然后领餐吃饭。

Then, a new man walked into the soup kitchen and asked me what my name was.

有一天，一个陌生人走进救济食堂，问我的名字叫什么。

As I told him my name was Angela, my mom handed me the soup ladle and hair net to start getting to work.

我告诉他我的名字是Angela，这时妈妈已经把做汤用的长柄勺和卫生发网递给我，让我准备开工了。

After that, I couldn't find the strange man again.

在这之后，我就没见过那个陌生人了。

I searched everywhere

我找遍了整个食堂

and even asked the other men and women in the kitchen if they had seen him.

甚至问食堂里的其他大人，是否有人见过他

My mom thought I was going crazy,

妈妈以为我疯了

saying there was no one with me when she came to hand me my stuff.

她说，当她把那些劳动工具拿来递给我的时候，我身边根本没有任何人。

She said I had been sitting alone and that it seemed I was talking to myself.

她说我一直独自坐在那里，看起来好像在自言自语。

Later that night in the car, my mom was crying.

后来，当天夜里，妈妈在车里哭了起来

I asked her what was wrong

我问她怎么了

and she told me the rent on our apartment had gone up

她告诉我，我们住的公寓租金又涨价了

and that my grandma had died.

我的奶奶也刚刚去世

She didn't know how she was going to pay for the funeral and the rent.

她不知道怎么支付葬礼的费用，还要支付房租

I assured her I would help pick up the odds and ends after she made as much as possible.

我向她保证，她只要尽力就行，剩下的空缺，我会想办法去挣回来

Once we got into the apartment building,

我们回到公寓大楼

she asked me to run to the mail room and grab the mail.

她让我去一趟传达室，把家里的信件带回去。

I went, and the only thing I could find was one single envelope.

我去了，只找到了一只信封

A familiar man called me back saying he thought I left something in our mailbox.

我刚走出传达室，一个有些脸熟的男人叫住我，他说，他想我把什么东西遗漏在信箱里了

I reached in and pulled out a huge manila envelope that was bulky

我把手伸进邮箱，拿出一只大大的马尼拉纸的信封，看上去特别厚

but I couldn't tell what was in it.

我猜不出里面装着什么

I brought the envelopes up to my mom.

我把那只信封带回家去交给了母亲

She opened the first one and found our first super expensive rent bill.

她打开第一只信封，发现了一张金额无比昂贵的账单，这是房租涨价后她第一次收到

She then walked into her room,

接着母亲回到她的房间里

saying she couldn't handle to open the other one.

她说她没有勇气打开那另一只信封了

I looked at the envelope and saw this:

我看了一眼那只信封，上面写着

Dear Angela and Family. Love, Your Friend.

给亲爱的Angela及家人，来自你们的朋友

I brought it to my mom with shaking hands and asked her to open it.

我把信封拿给妈妈看，手竟有些颤抖，我让妈妈快打开它

She ripped it open, tears streaming down her face.

她撕开了信封，眼泪簌簌的从她脸颊上滑落

She emptied the contents onto the bed.

她把信封里的东西倒在床上

I brought a hand to my face, wiping away multiple tears.

我举起一只手放在颊边，擦去脸上肆意的泪水

There on the bed were countless checks, all addressed to my mom.

床上放着数不清的支票，收件人全都是我妈妈

I had a feeling I knew who had sent it, but didn't want to tell my mom.

我暗自感到，自己知道送来这些的人是谁，但是我不想告诉妈妈

My friend from the soup kitchen.

一定是我在救济厨房遇到的那个朋友