WHEN ADULTHOOD FINALLY SITS YOU DOWN

There comes a moment in adulthood, often sudden, often quiet, when reality settles in your heart: you’re responsible for your life now. Not because people abandoned you, but because everyone is carrying their own load.

For those who grew up in families that struggled financially, that moment hits a little harder. Parents grow older, their strength fades, and their pockets thin out. Your siblings are also trying to figure out their lives. Everyone is doing their best, but no one has much to spare.

And this realization never arrives on a peaceful weekend morning. It usually strikes on a random weekday, maybe a Tuesday, when rent is due, the fridge is empty, and you’re counting coins for supper. You’ve gone days without a proper meal, yet you’re still fighting to rise again tomorrow. A small debt at Mama Mboga. A borrowed meal from a …