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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Fearing that no one would marry me, my mother forced me to marry a dishwasher with a three-year-old daughter. On the wedding day, when I picked up the bride, my mother suddenly fell to the ground \u2014 and I was stunned to see who would come out\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n For ten years, my mother had had one fear:<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re forty years old, Miguel. If you don\u2019t get married now, you might grow old alone!\u201d<\/p>\n In our small barangay outside Manila, I was known as Miguel, a plumber and electrician \u2014 dark, quiet, and not very handsome.<\/p>\n Whenever marriage was discussed, the neighbors would say:<\/p>\n \u201cOh, it\u2019s hard to find a wife.\u201d<\/p>\n I was used to being alone, until one day, my mother said:<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a woman on the corner, Maria. She\u2019s kind, quiet, hardworking. She has a three-year-old son, but he\u2019s a good child. Marry him, my child. Don\u2019t choose.\u201d<\/p>\n I just kept quiet.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t love her, but I felt sorry for my old mother.<\/p>\n It was just the two of us at home.<\/p>\n The wedding preparations were simple. My mother was very happy, even boasting to the neighbors:<\/p>\n \u201cMy future daughter-in-law is poor, but she\u2019s respectful and hardworking.\u201d<\/p>\n The wedding day arrived.<\/p>\n The sun was scorching hot, like it was burning my skin. I was only wearing a rented coat, my hand holding the bouquet was still shaking. The convoy stopped in front of an old house in Quezon City.<\/p>\n Mom asked:<\/p>\n \u201cWhy don\u2019t I see her three-year-old son? She always carries him with her wherever she washes dishes.\u201d<\/p>\n I also said that maybe the woman\u2019s family hid it so that people wouldn\u2019t talk about it. Mom nodded, obviously relieved.<\/p>\n I was standing outside, my chest heavy. I had no idea where this wedding was going to end. When the wedding music started playing and the bride came down the stairs, there was a loud \u201cthud\u201d behind me \u2014 mom fell!<\/p>\n Everyone was in a panic. I approached her, but I saw her staring, her mouth open, her hand shaking, pointing forward.<\/p>\n The woman in front of me was no longer the simple dishwasher I knew at the cafeteria.<\/p>\n She was no longer wearing old clothes and slippers. Instead, she was wearing a white wedding gown, and her neck, hands, and hair were full of gold jewelry \u2014 sparkling in the sun.<\/p>\n Our relatives whispered:<\/p>\n \u201cWow, just a dishwasher but she looks rich?\u201d<\/p>\n Even the girl\u2019s family was surprised:<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe the guy\u2019s family is rich, it\u2019s just not obvious!\u201d<\/p>\n Then, the bride\u2019s parents came out \u2014 wearing barongs and elegant clothes, calm demeanor, smiling affectionately:<\/p>\n \u201cGood morning, my friends. Today we give our youngest child to you.\u201d<\/p>\n Mom smiled, but suddenly a three-year-old boy ran up and hugged the bride\u2019s gown, crying:<\/p>\n \u201cSister, take me with you!\u201d<\/p>\n Everyone was shocked. Everyone thought it was the girl\u2019s son. But the bride’s mother smiled and explained:<\/p>\n \u201cHe’s my son too. He’s our youngest. He’s close to his sister, so wherever we go, he wants to go with us. Last summer, he went with his sister to help wash dishes at our cousin’s cafe.\u201d<\/p>\n The wedding went off in a happy way. It was full of laughter and joy.<\/p>\n I thought I was getting married just to make my mom happy, but in the end, I got a wife who was kind, beautiful, and had a heart of gold.<\/p>\n So everyone, don’t be afraid if you’re late to get married.<\/p>\n Sometimes, the right person comes along \u2014 even if you’re in your forties.<\/p>\n Like me, Miguel, from a quiet barangay in the Philippines<\/p>\n Fearing that no one would marry me, my mother forced me to marry a dishwasher with a three-year-old daughter. On the wedding day, when I picked up the bride, my mother suddenly fell to the ground \u2014 and I was stunned to see who would come out\u2026 For ten years, my mother had had one<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":25815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,42,37,43],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-25811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-moral","8":"category-moral-stories","9":"category-new","10":"category-relationship"},"yoast_head":"\nSo I agreed. If not for myself, then for my mother.<\/strong><\/h1>\n
When I turned around, I stopped \u2014 my body felt stiff, cold sweat.<\/strong><\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kaylestore.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/en56-250x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\nEveryone laughed \u2014 it turned out we were just wrong.<\/strong><\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kaylestore.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/46h-249x300.png\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"