When he knew who had left it, he burst into tears. At just four years of age, Abel was the head of the household. He lived alone with his mother, who never left her humble home afflicted by a strange disease that affected her circulatory system and that kept her at constant risk of collapsing. So she had to stay at home, and from there she did what she could to get some money.
The job that kept Mildred and her son able since the father died when the little boy was only one year old, was to fold packaging for all kinds of businesses, often pizza boxes.
As she had to fold twelve boxes to get a single Penny. She had to fold hundreds in a week to be able to have some money to feed themselves and very precariously they don’t have to pay rent because her husband, several years before dying, had built a room with a small kitchen on the outskirts of the city.
It was a land that was constantly flooded and that made the living conditions quite dangerous, not only because of the constant risk of flooding, but because of the insects that spread there. Mildred’s disease might have been generated in this place, but they had no other options. Even though she was constantly worried about the health of her little Abel, she would have done anything to get out of that place and would even have been willing to live on the street if not for that disease that did not allow her to move.
At least there they had a roof. Since he was little able to care of the purchases they could do to survive, the boy left his house with a small wheelbarrow, and once in the village he met Mildred’s only friend, who helped the boy with the shopping and sent him back to his house.
She would have wanted to help much more, however, she was almost as poor as them and had two children to support. Abel, for his part, never complained about the long journeys he had to travel, even though his short and skinny legs continually resented having to work more than anyone his age should. He said that he should contribute as much as possible because he felt that his mother depended on him and he wanted to grow older and stronger so that people would take him seriously and give him a job.
One day, while walking to the village to buy groceries he found on the way with an older woman who walked with difficulty. She did not look very old, but she seemed to suffer from some disease that arched her spine too much and that limited her mobility.
The boy approached the woman, who was very well dressed and with the most incredible innocence in the world, asked her why she was crouching. That woman would burst into anger before any adult who asked her such a question. She could not but laugh at the question of that little man dressed in rags with total naturalness. She explained him her illness and ended up telling him much of her life while they traveled the road together, and that child had said to her that he would accompany her and that she could lean on his shoulders. So this woman called Ebony explained to Abel that she had lost her husband since then she went out to walk the roads alone that they previously traveled together.
She was leaning on Abel until they reached the village. Once there, they said goodbye, but Evany did not stop thinking at any time about that child. However, the people she asked about him did not know about him. Some had seen him before, but didn’t know where he came from or where his parents were from, and she had focused so much on her own story that she had forgotten to ask the boy about him. The months passed and the routine continued.
Mildred at home folding boxes, Able going back and forth to the village, and Ebony traveling the same paths as always. However, the woman and the child had not met again. One day in a store, Ebony heard a woman talk about a child who was called Able and who was supremely responsible, much more than anyone who will double or triple his age. Immediately she knew that they were talking about the same child who had helped her. This is how Mildred’s friend and Ebony met.
They spent the whole afternoon together while the friend told her from the beginning to end. The story of Mildred and her son told her where they lived and how she suffered daily for not being able to help them leave that place, which only worsened Mildred’s health and put Able at high risk. Ebony was shocked by that life story. She had gone through very great grief losing her husband, but she had never had to spend so many jobs, and compared to theirs, her life seemed like a rose garden, while Mildred and Abel had to pick only thorns. Ebony wanted to help somehow, but did not know very well how.
Several weeks passed and she decided that it would be best to give them money to help them survive. However, the day she made that decision, she met Abel again on the way after several minutes of travel. She knew that the boy had a huge heart and was very simple and Noble, but also proud. Abel wanted to get what was necessary on his own merit without having to resort to begging. At that point, Ebony knew that he would most likely feel hurt if she offered him the money she planned to give him and his mother, which was more than enough for him to rent a house in a healthier place.
She thought of a different strategy for able to accept her help. And so she understood that when he received her donation, he should not know that it had been the work of Ebony. It had to be something anonymous. Later, she finally found the most suitable solution. She would ask someone who was more agile than her.
To go to Abel and Mildred’s house and leave at her door $100 and a letter as quickly as possible, not to be seen. However, her anonymity plans would not last long. Abel found the money and the letter, however, he could not read, so he asked his mother to read it as soon as she started. The boy knew immediately that the one who had written it was Mildred. He was a very observant little boy and remembered the way of expressing Ebony perfectly.
The money allowed them to buy medicines that until now, Mildred had not been able to access. Soon, it represented a significant improvement in her health. Noticing this change, the boy cried long. The letter of Ebony, despite its brevity, became a real treasure for Abel. In it, she told him that sometimes the reward of merit comes in the form of people.
And therefore, he should not be ashamed to receive help when it was offered with disinterest and with love. She also said that he must never forget the person he was at that time, a fiveyearold boy who harbored all human virtues in his heart. If he maintained them through the years, he would become a confident and reliable man capable of all heroism. Then Abel and Ebony were much more than close friends, and she was finally able to offer them the help she had wanted to give from the beginning. Mildred could not be more grateful.
Thanks to that widowed woman like her. She could see her son grow up to become the hero that Ebony had predicted in her letter. And it’s that when Abel was old enough to work, he decided to dedicate his life to save that of others. Thus, he became one of the most valued doctors in his village, in neighboring towns. For the great patience and love with which he treated each of his patients.
In the hospital that Abel founded later was called Ebony. And within thousands of lives were saved. And many more came to the world. The life of Abel is an example of strength and nobility. That made a nest in the hearts of all those who had the fortune to know him.