‘She shouldn’t have done that,’ he whispered to himself. Turning around, he noticed a bag on the floor. He picked it up and saw a tag that read ‘From Grandma.’
Mark bit his lip, thinking about his mum leaving it there and returning to her house. He opened the bag and realised what was inside. They were his old toys from his childhood. He never had much stuff in his house, but these items had always been dear to him. And they still were. He couldn’t help himself and cried.
Camille saw him outside and got worried. ‘What’s wrong, honey?’
‘I did something terrible to my mother,’ he wailed, and his wife hugged him. He recounted everything he had done, including the fact that he had become estranged from his family because they were all poor and he was ashamed. ‘I can’t believe I was so horrible to her!’
After his wife consoled him, Mark decided to go to his mother immediately to apologise. He still had the keys to her house for emergencies, so when he got there, he decided not to ring the doorbell and just use them to enter. But he was greeted by the vision of his mother passed out on the couch, with cold compresses on her legs.
‘Mum,’ he whispered, gently waking her.
‘Mark, why are you here?’ – she moaned and tried to get up, but he stopped her.
‘Don’t move,’ he said and, picking his mother up in his arms as if she weighed nothing, carried her into the bedroom. He added more ice to the cold compresses and helped her apply them to her swollen legs. He also made her something to eat and they drank tea together. He then apologised for his behaviour and told her the truth.
Fortunately, his mum turned out to be the most wonderful person in the world. ‘I felt you were ashamed, but I’m glad you came here right away to apologise. That’s exactly what I taught you. When you do something wrong, you have to make it right,’ Amelia reassured him, and Mark cried in her arms for a while longer.
He spent the whole night with her, and thankfully her legs felt much better. The next morning they decided to go to his house so she could meet his new baby, Hans.
Camilla also apologised because she had no idea what Mark had done, but she should have asked why Amelia wasn’t home. They spent a wonderful day together, and Amelia gave Camille lots of advice about children.
In the end Mark asked his mum to move in with them because they had a huge house and he didn’t want her all alone so far away.
What can we learn from this story?
- Never be ashamed of your parents. Mark was ashamed of his background and tried to hide it from Camille’s family, thus offending his mother. He later regretted it.
- The best way to rectify a situation is to realise that you have made a mistake. Mark immediately tried to rectify the situation after realising his terrible mistake against his mother. Fortunately, she quickly forgave him.
Share this story with your friends. Perhaps it will brighten their day and inspire them.