As a child, I idolized my father; as a teenager, I resented his endless penny-pinching—no air conditioning, a black-and-white TV, and store-to-store coupon hunts. I felt only the confusion and frustration, aware that our home lagged behind the comforts my friends took for granted. I didn’t understand his methods at the time. Years later, though, the picture became clear: the grocery trips, the careful budgeting, all painted a portrait of a man shaped by hardship, quietly giving everything he could. What once seemed stingy was, in truth, love in disguise.
