I never expected a fairytale; I just wanted to take care of my family. I worked two jobs—endless shifts at a roadside diner and a café—to pay for my sister’s tuition and my mom’s medical needs. When my boyfriend, John, invited me to his mother’s birthday party to meet his entire family, I was terrified but hopeful. He told me they’d love me.
The day of the party, everything went wrong. My manager at the café called me in at the last minute, threatening to fire me if I didn’t cover a shift. I ended up working until 5:00 PM. John couldn’t wait and drove to the party without me. I had to take a long bus ride to the suburbs, and in the rush, I forgot the gift I’d saved up for. I didn’t even have time to change out of my stained work apron.
When I finally arrived at the Ellington’s mansion, sweaty and tired, I bumped into John’s mother, Mrs. Ellington. She looked at me like I was mud on her marble floor. Instead of letting me slip away to change, she gathered all the guests and announced, “I didn’t expect my son’s girlfriend to show up looking like she’d been mucking out stables.”
I turned to John, waiting for him to defend me. I wanted him to tell them he loved me no matter what I looked like. Instead, he looked at his shoes and told his mother, “She didn’t mean to embarrass you,” before turning to me and saying, “You shouldn’t have come like that, Mia. This was a mistake.” In that moment, I realized I didn’t lose a boyfriend—I lost a burden. I walked out of that house with my head high, knowing I was worth more than a man who was ashamed of the hard work that kept my family alive.
