“Love is not what you say. Love is what you do.”
愛，不是你說了什麼，而是你做了什麼。
— David Wilkerson
Because I started working part-time as an English teacher,
my income gradually became more stable.
因為我開始兼職擔任英語老師，
我的收入也逐漸穩定下來。
At the age of 20, I was already earning around 24,000 NTD a month.To me, that meant something important—
it meant I could finally take care of myself.
20歲那年，我每個月已經可以賺到大約 24,000 台幣。
對我來說，那代表著一件很重要的事——
我終於可以養活自己了。
Around that time, I met an insurance agent while working at McDonald’s,
and I bought my very first savings insurance policy.
也是在那段時間，我在麥當勞工作時認識了一位保險業務員，
買下了人生中的第一份儲蓄型保險。
Growing up, my mom always believed in insurance.
To her, it was a way to protect the future.
從小到大，我媽媽一直都很相信保險。
對她來說，那是一種保護未來的方式。
So when I made that decision,
she was the first person I wanted to tell.
所以當我做了這個決定時，
她是我第一個想分享的人。
But the truth is,
my relationship with my mom had always felt a little distant.
但事實是，
我和媽媽的關係一直有點距離。
She was quiet, not very expressive.And I was always closer to my dad.
她很安靜，不太會表達情感，
而我一直都比較親近爸爸。
That started to change when I moved away for college.
直到我離開家去念大學後，
一切才開始改變。
My mom began calling me almost every day—
sometimes three or four times a day.
媽媽開始幾乎每天打電話給我，
有時候一天三、四次。
At the end of each month, when I was short on money,
she would quietly transfer me 2,000 NTD.
每到月底我快沒錢的時候，
她會默默轉 2,000 塊給我。
I knew that was love.
But back then, I didn’t really know how to receive it.
我知道那是愛。
但那時的我，並不懂得怎麼接住這份愛。
I even changed her caller ID on my phone to…
“Death Calling.”
我甚至把她的來電名稱改成……
「奪名索魂扣」。
Looking back now,
it’s a little funny… and a little heartbreaking.
現在回頭看，
有點好笑，也有點心疼。
One day, I called her to tell her
that I had bought my first insurance policy.
有一天，我打電話告訴她，
我買了人生第一份保單。
I thought she would be proud of me.
我以為她會為我感到驕傲。
But instead, she got upset and said,“If you have money to buy insurance,
why didn’t you put it under my name?”
但她卻有點生氣地說：
「你既然有錢買保險，
為什麼不放在我名下？」
At that time, I didn’t understand.
I thought she was being petty.
當時的我完全不懂，
甚至覺得她有點小氣。
I was trying to build my future—
why couldn’t she just be happy for me?
我只是想為自己的未來努力——
為什麼她不能單純替我開心呢？
Three months later,
my mom passed away in her sleep.
三個月後，
媽媽在睡夢中離開了。
When I was going through her belongings,
I found something in her drawer.
當我在整理她的遺物時，
在抽屜裡發現了一樣東西。
A life insurance policy—just three months old.
一份保單——才剛滿三個月。
She bought it right after that phone call.
她是在那通電話之後買的。
And the beneficiary… was me.
而受益人……是我。
In that moment,
everything became clear.
那一刻，
一切都明白了。
She wasn’t being selfish.
她並不是自私。
She was loving mein the only way she knew how.
她只是用她會的方式，
在愛我。
New Zealand