Riu taught me things.

Riu, my four year old cousin sister,  would get up every morning,  go to school, come back six hours later,  have a bath,  be angry until my grandma fed her,  sleep,  watch cartoon shows on YouTube, get annoyed when being nagged to complete her homework,  and go to sleep really late at night,  because she wanted to spend a little more time with her mom and dad. 

And just another weekend it was,  when we came home after watching Valderine at 12 am.  And aunt and uncle started fighting over who will go to her fancy dress competition at school the next morning. 

Since I didn't feel like attending college, I volunteered to go. And there I was,  carrying a tote bag and putting on a little red lip colour in an attempt to look a tad bit older than what I actually am. 

And then she said it, pointing a finger at me and screaming with joy,  the kind that something unexpected comes your way,  "Ma'am,  this is my mother "

As a single child of a single mother,  I thought life can look happy with a complete family and that those who are part of a normal family, have everything they want and need in their life. 

But Riu taught me that there is always an opportunity cost for everything,  the next best alternative possible. I was her opportunity cost for her at that very moment. And that had a greater meaning for me. 

I realized that I had my opportunity cost as well. All those times when mom bought me an expensive dress sacrificing one for herself,  all those times when we baked a cake together and it didn't turn out nice and fluffy,  all those times when she oiled my hair and I massaged her head through her usual fits of aches,  and all those times we cried together in silence,  we're my opportunity cost. My next best alternative,  yet the best I could ever ask for.