I was 15 years old when my mother passed away, and it was an immense sorrow for me. After her loss, I decided to leave the country because I couldn’t live in a place where everything constantly reminded me of her.
For two years, I lived abroad and learned that my father had remarried. I didn’t have anything against this woman, especially since I didn’t know her, but I had chosen not to attend their wedding.
Later, during a conversation with my brother, I discovered that my stepmother was gradually erasing my mother’s memories from our house. She had even given away her belongings to others. What shocked me the most was that my father hadn’t said or done anything to stop her.
I started to harbor some resentment towards this woman. One day, I decided to come back home, but I didn’t tell anyone, neither my father nor my brother. I wanted to visit my mother’s grave first, and only after that would I return home.
When I arrived at the cemetery, I noticed a woman near the gravestone, digging around the grave. I thought it could only be my stepmother. I rushed over to see what she was doing.
When she saw me, she immediately stopped what she was doing and hid what she had in her hands behind her back.
I couldn’t just stand there without acting, and what I discovered when I spoke with her really shocked me…
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When I asked her what she was doing, she hesitated for a moment, then lowered her eyes.
“I… I was planting tulips,” she replied timidly.
A strange feeling washed over me, a combination of confusion and curiosity.
She then added, “Your mother loved these flowers.
Every year, she would plant them here, near her grave.
I wanted to honor her by growing what she loved.”
I looked at the little tulip shoots beginning to emerge from the soil, and a weight slowly lifted from my chest.
I had thought she was erasing everything about my mother, but in reality, she was acting out of respect and love for her.
She explained that she had often seen my mother spend hours tending to this small garden.
This was her way of keeping her memory alive, without telling anyone.
This gesture deeply touched me.