Amelia wanted to meet her newborn grandson, but when her son, Marcos, refused to pick her up, she decided to walk to his house. It took her hours because she was using a walker. But when she arrived, he forbade her to enter and something shocking happened.
“I can’t pick you up, Mom. I have to run some errands for Camila and other people are coming over. We’ll set up a time for you to see the baby,“ Marcos told his mother, Amelia, over the phone. She was supposed to meet the newborn and her son would pick her up at her house.
“Are you sure? It’s a pretty quick drive,” Amelia almost pleaded. She really wanted to meet her grandson.
“Some other time, Mom. I have to go. See you later!” Marcos hung up and Amelia flopped down on her sofa with a big sigh.
She had been worried about Marcos’s attitude lately. It seemed like he had been pulling away from her. If she was honest, it started to happen when he married Camila.
Camila came from an extremely wealthy family in Connecticut, while Amelia raised Marcos as a single mother with the help of her grandmother. They never had much, except tons of love.
But now, her son had it all. Camila’s parents gave them a huge house after they got married, and he was living the high life.
Ever since, Amelia had felt left out, as if ashamed of her background, although she never said so openly.
“You’re being silly,” she often told herself when she thought about it. ”Marcos is just busy. They have a baby now and a million things to do. He’ll pick you up another time.”
But she had a sudden idea. She could walk to his house. It might be a challenge, but she could do it. The bus routes didn’t go to his residential area and she couldn’t afford a taxi either, so walking was her only option.
Amelia got up with her walker, grabbed her handbag and a bag she had prepared for the day. She hung them securely on the walker and began her journey. She was slow and, although she could lean on the walker, it was quite hard for her.
She had to stop several times along the way and, before she knew it, two hours had passed. Then three and four. Finally, she arrived at her son’s house. She was exhausted, but happy to have made it despite her walking problems.
After ringing the doorbell, she took the special bag because she wanted Marcos to open it right away. But when he opened the door, her son’s face did not light up with joy.
“Mom?” he said, surprised. ‘What are you doing here?’
Amelia didn’t understand his expression and almost frowned, but she was excited to be there and that’s what she focused on. “Surprise!” she said, trying to sound enthusiastic, although she was tired, hungry and worried about his attitude.
Marcos came out, closed the door behind him and forced her back several steps with her walker. ‘What are you doing, Marcos?’ she asked.
“Mom! I told you you would meet the baby another time. You can’t come in now!” Marcos replied in a scolding tone with his face wrinkled with anger.
“I don’t understand. Why are you angry? I just walked for almost five hours to see my grandson and I brought you…”
“I don’t care what you brought! I don’t want you here now. You have to leave immediately! You’ll meet Henry another day, okay? Please leave now!” he demanded, looking behind him as if he were worried that someone would see them.
He opened the door and went back inside, shutting the door in his mother’s face. She stood in the garden with her things and leaning on her walker.
Amelia was surprised. Tears welled up in her eyes. She hadn’t even asked him if he was okay after confessing that she had walked almost five hours to visit him. Marcos knew that she had mobility problems.
But she didn’t want to cause any more problems, so she started to turn around, then she remembered the bag in her hands. She decided to leave it outside his door, hoping he would find it later.
Amelia set off to walk home, prepared for the long and exhausting hours ahead of her. Fortunately, her neighbor, Mrs. Cáceres, saw her and gave her a lift in her old car.
When she got home, her legs failed her as soon as she closed the front door. She sat down on the sofa and it was then that she noticed that her legs were swollen.
After resting for a while, she managed to stand up, get some ice and take a painkiller. But in the end she had to sleep on the sofa because her bedroom seemed too far to reach.
Meanwhile, Marcos said goodbye to his guests that night, waving them through the front door. It had been a busy day with lots of visitors, and it was finally over. He hunched his shoulders, thinking about his actions that day.
His mother had walked home from a long way away, he thought guiltily, then shook his head, convincing himself it wasn’t his fault.
“She shouldn’t have done that,” he whispered to himself. When he turned around, he noticed the bag on the floor. He picked it up and saw a tag that said, ”From Grandma.”
Marcos bit his lip, thinking of his mother leaving the bag there. He opened it and realized what was inside. They were old toys from his childhood. They never had much at home, but these items were always precious to him. They still were. He couldn’t help but start crying.
Camila saw him outside and got worried. “What’s wrong, honey?”
“I did something horrible to my mother,” he lamented, and his wife hugged him. He revealed everything he had done. Even that he began to distance himself from his family because they were all poor and he felt ashamed. ”I can’t believe I was so horrible to her!”
After his wife consoled him, Marcos decided to drive to his mother’s house immediately with a big apology.
He still had the keys in case of emergency, so when he arrived, he decided not to ring the doorbell and use them to get in. But he was greeted by the sight of his mother passed out on the sofa, with cold compresses on her legs.
“Mom,“ he whispered, gently waking her.
“Marcos, why are you here?” she said dazedly and tried to get up, but he stopped her.
“Don’t move,” he said and lifted his mother as if she weighed nothing, taking her to his bedroom. He added more ice to her cold compresses and helped her put them on her swollen legs. He also made her something to eat and they drank tea together. Then he apologized for his attitude and told her the truth.
Luckily, his mother was the most fantastic person in the world. “I had the feeling that you were ashamed, but I’m glad you came here right away to apologize. That’s what I taught you. When you do something wrong, you have to fix it,” she reassured him and Marcos cried in her arms.
She stayed with her all night and, fortunately, her legs were much better. The next morning, they decided to go to her house so that she could meet her grandson, Henry.
Camila also apologized because she had no idea what Marcos did, but she should have asked why Amelia wasn’t there. They spent a wonderful day together and Amelia gave her daughter-in-law lots of advice about babies.
Finally, Marcos asked his mother to move in with them because they had a huge house and he didn’t want her to be alone so far away.
What can we learn from this story?
- Never be ashamed of your parents: Marcos felt ashamed of his background and tried to hide it from Camila’s family, hurting his mother in the process. He regretted it later.
- It’s better to make amends when you realize you’ve made a mistake: Marcos immediately tried to make amends after realizing his horrible mistake against his mother. Fortunately, she quickly forgave him.