My First Real Paycheck

I got my first real paycheck at sixteen, bagging groceries at the Food King. It was $137.42 for two weeks. I felt like a millionaire.

My plan was to buy new sneakers. Instead, on the way home, I stopped at the bakery and bought my mom a whole chocolate cake, the expensive one with raspberries on top. She worked two jobs and never bought anything nice for herself.

When I put it on the table, she just stared at it and then at me. She didn't say anything for a long time. Then she cut two huge slices, sat me down and said, "We are eating this for dinner."

I'm forty now with kids of my own. I've had bigger paychecks, but that's still the one I'm proudest of.