One day, in a Facebook group where they post job offers, I found an ad looking for someone to clean the house of Doña Carmen, an elderly woman who lived alone in a small alley near the city center.

But the months passed…

and Doña Carmen never paid me a single peso.

However, I continued to help her.

Until the day she died…

and left a letter that changed my life forever.

The day that Doña Carmen died was a gray and silent day.

That morning I had gone to his house as usual. He carried a bag of warm tortillas, some chicken, and vegetables to make a broth. The sea wind blew hard in the alley, kicking up dust between the worn walls of the houses.

I knocked on the wooden door.

“Doña Carmen… it’s me, Diego.

No one answered.

I thought maybe he was sleeping. I gently pushed open the door, which as always was unlocked.