Mom Always Took the Long Way to School

Mom Always Took the Long Way to School For six years, my mom walked me to school the long way. Every single day. The short road took five minutes. The long road took twenty. I hated it. And every morning, she stopped at the same little bakery and dropped one coin in a jar. She never bought anything. She just smiled at the baker and kept walking. At school, my best friend Sam always had a warm roll waiting in his backpack. He said it was magic. Twelve years later, Sam gave the graduation speech. When I was a kid, he said, my family had no money for breakfast. But every day, a warm roll appeared in my bag. I found out last week who paid for it. One coin a day, for six years. Then he looked straight at my mom. She never took the long way for exercise. She took it so a hungry boy would never know he was being helped. Now I take the long way too. Would you have noticed? Comment LONG WAY.