Even If Your Friends Aren't

I've been talking a lot to a friend lately. He and I have chingos in common, but we also have plenty of differences. We're both from the Valley and we both went to UT. We were both raised in a similar fashion. Now, we both send money to our parents, but he's at a different level. I send money home to my folks to help them pay for my mom's health insurance. He sends money home to pay for his mom's house - which they're about to have to sell off.

We've had several discussions about this because I think he wants to talk about it. I know he feels that I can relate to him.

In college I was living the life! I had more money than I've ever had before. Mind you, they were loans and I worked, but what the hell. People would always complain about how little money they had and I would just listen in amazement. I had a decent apartment, could buy new shoes if I needed to, send some of my financial aid money home (just randomly), and almost had my own room! What could I complain about? At home I didn't get a bed until I was 13. Anyway, my point is that I sent money home even then.

My friend is in a totally different ballgame though. He's basically the sole income provider for his mother. They live over 300 miles away from each other. It sucks because he has to worry about that and then paying his own bills. They're going to lose the house because he can't keep making all of the payments.

What kind of sucks (and doesn't) is that nobody really knows about this. Nobody knows that he helps his mom or that I send my parents money. Why? Because most of the people we associate with (although raza) have never had to do this.

I'll bet you none of my gringo friends know. Are they bad people? Hell no.
Those dudes would do just about anything for me (as long as it doesn't interfere w/ their plans)!

So, even if our friends aren't worrying about things, we are. I've always been very impressed with this dude, because he's a freakin' hard worker. Our recent conversations have revolved around having the drive to do things. He definitely does has the drive. He'll do well.