As a homeless kid, a single birthday gift—a crumpled dollar bill—transformed my life. I was taken in by foster parents Steve and Linda, who had eight other Black foster kids. They treated us likе their own, and Steve always made me feel special. He’d say, “Dylan, you’re just as good as anyone else.”
On my fifth birthday, my biological parents took me away, and Steve handed me a dollar bill, saying, “There’s a special message for you written on this bill. Never lose it.” Two years later, my biological parents аbаndоned me in a park.
At seven, alone and scared, I promised myself, “No more orphanages. You’re going to make it on your own.” I lived on the streets, learning to read and write from a homeless man named Jacob. He’d say, “Dylan, you’ve got to learn this. It’s your way out of here.”
Years later, I found the dollar bill again and read Steve’s message: “You are my son and always will be… With it, you will succeed, but you have to believe in yourself!” This reignited my spark.
I worked tirelessly until an elderly man, Mr. Brown, offered me a job. His mentorship led me to success, and I returned to my foster parents, showing Steve the dollar bill. He smiled and said, “Maybe it’s not the dollar but you?” Through resilience and belief, I made it.
We moved into an old house and discovered an ancient safe in the basement — what we found inside completely changed our lives
When Fiona, Derek, and their son, Ethan, inherit a house in a new state, they jump at the opportunity for a fresh start. But during their renovations, they discover an old safe in the basement. However, their lives change forever when Ethan discovers the key to the safe.
Growing up, we were never the wealthy type. My family was pretty average, dealing with the usual stuff that people seem to juggle: credit card bills, loans, and relying heavily on paychecks just to make ends meet.
So, when I got a random call one day saying we’d inherited a house in a different state, it felt like something out of a movie.
The house belonged to my grandpa’s brother, a man we were never particularly close with. But he had passed away, and to our surprise, he left us his house in his will.
“We’ve been waiting for a new start, Fiona,” my husband, Derek, said. “I think we should take it and just start a new chapter. Ethan is starting high school, so it’s the perfect time to switch schools anyway.”
“I agree,” I said, already thinking about looking for a new job that wouldn’t leave me so stressed out. I needed to get some of my joy back. Recently, all I had been doing was working to make ends meet.
Derek was doing the same thing.
We were tired.
This new house could be exactly what we needed. It wasn’t anything fancy. It was a charming old property that had seen better days but was spacious and tucked away in a quiet neighborhood.
The idea of starting fresh, with no rent or mortgage hanging over our heads, was too good to pass up. So, we packed up our lives, crossed state lines, and moved in.
“I’m excited, Mom,” Ethan said. “I think I needed a change of scenery from town as well. I didn’t really want to go to high school with the same people I’d known since I was five years old.”
When we first arrived, the house was as expected. It was old, creaky, and full of charm but needed a little TLC.
“We’ll make it a home, Fiona,” Derek said, already going on about new flooring.
A few weeks in, Derek was already planning to replace some floorboards, and I was determined to breathe new life into the dusty old kitchen.
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