did he know where you were?” I asked.
“He didn’t tell you? He came and found me at my friend’s house and offered me a chance to turn my life around. He was tough on me, but everything he said was true. He gave me the option right there and then to come with him, and I did. He flew me out to a rehab in California, and it’s been a rough process but a much needed one. I won’t ever be returning to Chicago, and I want a better life for myself. I just hope that you can be a part of it, I want the chance to really get to know you,” she said.
“So when did Kyle tell you about the wedding?” I asked.
“He told me about 2 weeks ago and he invited me last week. There’s nothing I would love more than to be able to give you away today. Will you allow me to do that?”
I almost slid off of my bed at her request. My chest heaved with a little bit of anxiety and I tried to cram some real self-reflection in about 20 seconds. I was impressed that Kyle had reached out to my mother and helped her clean herself up. It was something that she’d always refused when I suggested it. I didn’t have to ask how she was doing in the program because she looked great, so it was obvious that she was doing well. I was experiencing a lot of emotions at one time. Kyle really is full of surprises, good ones at that.
She was telling me all of the things that I longed to hear from her since I was a child. She was my mother and I used to crave her approval. She’d finally seemed to come around, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to love her while she was displaying sanity. Her change of heart may have originated from my huge lifestyle change but did that make it any less real? I had to give her a chance. She was pretty much the only biological family that I had left. Her parents had passed away when she was younger, and she was the only child. We had extended family, and they were at the wedding but I didn’t know them very well. They all lived in Virginia, and me and my mother never went to our family reunions.
I was going to cry, and I fought back my tears because I’d cried enough and I didn’t need to torture the make-up artist any further, “Yes, I would like that a lot.”
“Can I hug you now?” She asked timidly.
I laughed, “I would like that too.” I stood to my feet and closed the space between us. She rose to her feet, and we embraced. I couldn’t remember the last time that I hugged my mother. So much was communicated between us in that one hug, and I had the feeling that my life had finally come full circle.
“Okay, let’s get you back out there so that you can start getting ready. You also need some champagne in your hand.”
“ I can’t,” I said, “I’m expecting.”
Her eyes grew big and the tears that she’d been holding on to spilled down her face, “I’m about to be a grandma?”
I nodded shyly, “Yes you are.”
“When are you due? Not for another 6 months and so we have some time,” I said.
“I will be more than happy to be there if you’ll let me,” she said.
“If you keep on the path that you’re on, I won’t have any problem with that.”
Her face expressed gratitude, “I am, I promise.”
In that moment I believed her. Some people had a problem with their parents breaking promises. Their parents will give them an endless stream of promises that they never intend to keep. My mother never promised me anything ever. She always told me what she wasn’t going to do, and she made no apologies for it. The person that I was seeing before me was a stranger that I couldn’t wait to get to know. Her past had been filled with hurt and pain. She was trying to work through it, and maybe she would finally let me in.
We walked back out into the common area, and Sandy and Cynthia’s eyes bored into me. They didn’t have to ask the questions verbally because I knew them already.
“You both were right about Kyle,” I admitted,
“He didn’t tell you? He came and found me at my friend’s house and offered me a chance to turn my life around. He was tough on me, but everything he said was true. He gave me the option right there and then to come with him, and I did. He flew me out to a rehab in California, and it’s been a rough process but a much needed one. I won’t ever be returning to Chicago, and I want a better life for myself. I just hope that you can be a part of it, I want the chance to really get to know you,” she said.
“So when did Kyle tell you about the wedding?” I asked.
“He told me about 2 weeks ago and he invited me last week. There’s nothing I would love more than to be able to give you away today. Will you allow me to do that?”
I almost slid off of my bed at her request. My chest heaved with a little bit of anxiety and I tried to cram some real self-reflection in about 20 seconds. I was impressed that Kyle had reached out to my mother and helped her clean herself up. It was something that she’d always refused when I suggested it. I didn’t have to ask how she was doing in the program because she looked great, so it was obvious that she was doing well. I was experiencing a lot of emotions at one time. Kyle really is full of surprises, good ones at that.
She was telling me all of the things that I longed to hear from her since I was a child. She was my mother and I used to crave her approval. She’d finally seemed to come around, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to love her while she was displaying sanity. Her change of heart may have originated from my huge lifestyle change but did that make it any less real? I had to give her a chance. She was pretty much the only biological family that I had left. Her parents had passed away when she was younger, and she was the only child. We had extended family, and they were at the wedding but I didn’t know them very well. They all lived in Virginia, and me and my mother never went to our family reunions.
I was going to cry, and I fought back my tears because I’d cried enough and I didn’t need to torture the make-up artist any further, “Yes, I would like that a lot.”
“Can I hug you now?” She asked timidly.
I laughed, “I would like that too.” I stood to my feet and closed the space between us. She rose to her feet, and we embraced. I couldn’t remember the last time that I hugged my mother. So much was communicated between us in that one hug, and I had the feeling that my life had finally come full circle.
“Okay, let’s get you back out there so that you can start getting ready. You also need some champagne in your hand.”
“ I can’t,” I said, “I’m expecting.”
Her eyes grew big and the tears that she’d been holding on to spilled down her face, “I’m about to be a grandma?”
I nodded shyly, “Yes you are.”
“When are you due? Not for another 6 months and so we have some time,” I said.
“I will be more than happy to be there if you’ll let me,” she said.
“If you keep on the path that you’re on, I won’t have any problem with that.”
Her face expressed gratitude, “I am, I promise.”
In that moment I believed her. Some people had a problem with their parents breaking promises. Their parents will give them an endless stream of promises that they never intend to keep. My mother never promised me anything ever. She always told me what she wasn’t going to do, and she made no apologies for it. The person that I was seeing before me was a stranger that I couldn’t wait to get to know. Her past had been filled with hurt and pain. She was trying to work through it, and maybe she would finally let me in.
We walked back out into the common area, and Sandy and Cynthia’s eyes bored into me. They didn’t have to ask the questions verbally because I knew them already.
“You both were right about Kyle,” I admitted,
Similar Books
