‘Oh no,’ Rhonda exclaimed. “You’ve already done a lot for me. I’m afraid I can’t do you the favour in return.”
‘Please,’ Mrs Bamford begged. “If I help you, it will be like I helped my daughter. And it will help me get rid of my guilt.”
At that moment Rhonda couldn’t refuse Mrs Bamford. She agreed to the ticket and a few days later was flying business class from AUS to JFK, ready to start her life anew.
However, as she sat on the plane with her baby in her arms, she constantly worried about her ability to provide a good life for him.
“What if I can’t take care of my baby? What if he lives on the streets with me?” These thoughts so preoccupied Rhonda that she didn’t notice the flight was over and the pilot announced her arrival at JFK airport.
Rhonda was horrified to realise that she would be alone in a foreign city with a newborn baby and no means of support. Her thoughts began to spin, her heart racing with anxiety at the thought of what lay ahead for her and her son.
It was at that moment that she made an agonising decision. She decided to leave the baby on the plane, hoping that someone would take him and give him a good life.
She waited for the people in the neighbouring seats to leave and when she saw that no one was looking, she left her son on the seat, along with the note she had written earlier, and quickly exited the plane. It took all her strength not to look back and snatch her child back, but she decided it was for the best.
When one of the flight attendants, Lynsey, approached the seat after the passengers had left, she was shocked to find the infant. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for the baby as she read the note Rhonda had left with him.
I’m a poor mother who couldn’t take care of her child. Don’t waste your time looking for me if you find this note. I could never give him a good life. I hope you will accept and cherish him as your own. I’d be glad if you’d call him Matthew. Matthew Harris. That’s the name I chose for him.
After nearly a decade of struggle, Rhonda had finally found a stable job, and her financial situation was not bad. However, there wasn’t a day that went by that she didn’t regret leaving her son behind on the voyage.
After moving to New York City, she was homeless for almost 7 years and spent the remaining seven years trying to find a steady income and renting. Eventually things got better and she thought she could provide for her son with everything he needed.
Of course, she was ashamed of what she had done in the past, and she feared her son would never accept her. But she decided to take a chance and meet her boy for the first and possibly last time. Unfortunately, she was right in thinking that things would go wrong.
“My mum? You’ve got to be kidding me!” Matthew pounced as she met his gaze. “Where have you been all these years? I don’t need you! I’m happy with my foster parents.”
At those words from Matthew, Rhonda’s eyes glazed over. She went to the local police for help, telling them her whole story, and luckily one of the officers helped her find her son.
At first she was afraid she would never find Matthew, for he could have been adopted by anyone in the world and given a different name. She was lucky: she searched in New York and found him there under the name she had given him.
She contacted Matthew’s adoptive mother, explaining why she gave him up and chose the name Matthew Harris for him. It turned out that the boy had been adopted by flight attendant Lynsey and her husband. She questioned whether to introduce Rhonda to Matthew after she abandoned him, but eventually agreed to give her a chance to explain herself after hearing her story.
‘I’m so sorry, Matthew,’ Rhonda said. ‘I know you’re upset and don’t want to accept me, but can’t you just give me one chance?’
‘No way!’ – The boy shouted. “You’re an evil woman who left me all alone. If my parents hadn’t adopted me, I’d be in an orphanage today!”
‘But Matthew,’ Rhonda said. “I didn’t want to do this. Won’t you let me explain why I left you?”
Matthew didn’t want to do it, but after pleading with his parents, he agreed. Rhonda didn’t tell him about the early pregnancy and how she was kicked out because he was only 13. But she did tell him that she had been poor and that his father had abandoned her.
Lynsey explained that Rhonda had had a hard time providing him with a good life, so she’d given up on him. However, Matthew still didn’t want to acknowledge her as his mother. ‘I can forgive you, maybe,’ he said. “But I can’t call you mum. I only have one mum.”
‘It’s okay, Matthew,’ Rhonda said. ‘Can I come and see you at least on the weekends?’
‘Okay, I don’t mind,’ the boy said.
Ten years have passed since that fateful day. Matthew is now 23 years old and works as a data analyst in New York City. Over time, he has forgiven Rhonda for what she did and accepted her as his mother, realising that everything she did was an obsession.
Rhonda recently met a man named Andrew at work, and they have been dating for a month. Rhonda wants to marry him, but she intends to talk to Matthew about it first. She also met Mrs Bamford when she went to Texas two years ago, and the older woman was glad it worked out for her.
What can we learn from this story?
- Time heals all things. Over time, Matthew realised that Rhonda wasn’t entirely to blame for what happened on that fateful day when she left him.
- There was no point in dwelling on the past. Matthew realised this and forgave Rhonda.