Should I help?

Dear Tita,

Two years after our mother died, Papa suddenly brought home a woman named Ason from Iloilo. He told us she was to be our new mother. My siblings and I were shocked but we couldn't do anything. The first time he brought her home to meet us, I could sense that she didn't like us. She was just pretending to be nice. I tried to tell Papa this but he brushed me off, saying we needed a mother to care for us.

They were married soon after and in a few months, Tita Ason began to show her real mean self to us. She would punish us for any reason like if we played too long in the yard or if we ate the food she was keeping for herself in the ref. She didn't want Papa to spend money on us and she cut down our allowance by half.

She began hitting us with anything she could grab everytime she got mad. Papa got thinner and thinner until we found out he had Stage 4 cancer of the lungs. He died after a few months.

Tita Ason began spending a lot of money playing mahjong and going to the casino until she used up all the money from my father's insurance and retirement pay. I had to beg my mother's sister Salud to help me finish my college degree.

Now that I am working and earning a good salary, Tita Ason was diagnosed with breast cancer and needs expensive medical care. She is asking me to help. I have no love for her because of the way she treated us badly when we were very young.

BADLY TREATED

Dear Badly Treated,

I can understand how you feel about your stepmother. You don't care for her because of how she mistreated you and your siblings. But do you know how bitterness can eat you up? It can ruin your life. Try to be forgiving towards your stepmother. After all, she does not have long to live. The best way is for you to be kind. It would really put you at peace with yourself. She would realize how wrong she was to mistreat you and your siblings.

TITA