It's a continuum

When I was growing up our house was like a half-way house; my dad brought in all kinds of people to live with us. Some stayed for several weeks, others for a year or two. I don't know where my dad picked them up from, but I remember that there was this young man named Arthur, he spoke Tagalog only and our household understood and speak nothing but our Cebuano dialect. We communicated through sign language for about 3 months, until he was able to save up for a boat fare back to Manila. Then there was Noel, who I thought was my blind brother because he lived with us, like, forever. Someone mentioned this to me the other day when they saw my 'bakal' boys bathing and washing their rags. He said: "So are you picking up where your dad left off?" I didn't really see it that way until just then whe he said it. And I guess, it's true. My boys and I have come up with a new plan--a really smart plan (you can laugh out loud here). That they bathe in exchange for food. Here's their supposedly washed clothes. It's washed, not sure if it's clean.