A Patched Shirt and an Unbroken Dream

Mrs. Jessica was a single mother who made a living selling sticky rice each morning at the village market. Every day, before dawn broke, she was already by the steaming pot, preparing for her daily rounds. She never ate breakfast—saving the best portions for her daughter, Lan.

Lan grew up to the sound of her mother’s morning calls: “Hot sticky rice here!” and the sight of her returning each evening with soot-streaked clothes, sore hands from tending the fire, but still smiling while listening to her child’s school stories. Mrs. Jessica couldn’t read or write, but every night she sat beside Lan during homework time, pretending to understand—just so her daughter wouldn’t lose confidence.

One day, Shophia came home and asked to take extra English classes because the teacher said it was “the language of the future.” Mrs. Jessica didn’t know what that meant, but that night, she quietly reworked their budget, stayed up late shelling cashew nuts to cover the tuition.

When Shophia earned a full scholarship to study in America, Mrs. Jessica didn’t cry. She simply tucked a mended handkerchief into her daughter’s hand and said:
“I don’t know what the world out there holds… but wherever you are, that’s where your mother will be.”