My father-in-law had no pension. I cared for him with all my heart for 12 years. With his last breath, he handed me a torn pillow and said, “For Maria.” When I opened it, I cried nonstop…

My father-in-law had no pension. I cared for him with all my heart for 12 years. With his last breath, he handed me a torn pillow and said, “For Maria.” When I opened it, I cried nonstop…

I am Maria. I entered the “job” of being a daughter-in-law at 26. At that time, my husband’s family had already gone through many hardships. My mother-in-law had died young, leaving my father-in-law, Tatay Ramón, to raise four children alone. He grew rice and vegetables all his life in Nueva Écija, without a stable job or pension.