The One-Eyed Mother

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Vincent’s mom had only one eye.

Vincent hated it because she was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students and teachers to support the family.

There was this one day when he was in primary school and a Parent-Teacher meet was organized.  He was so embarrassed that he ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out.

The next day at school, several of his classmates and many others pointed out to him, “Hey - your mom only has one eye!”

He wanted to bury himself. He wished his mom would just disappear.

He confronted her that day and said, “Could you stop making me a laughing stock amongst people?”

His mom did not respond, but she did ensure that she never came to visit him in school again.

Vincent was so full of anger that he was oblivious of her feelings, he didn’t even ponder or spare a second thought to what he had said.  He wanted to have nothing to do with her, he just wanted to go out of that house so he studied real hard, got a scholarship and went abroad to study.

Over time, he got married, bought a house of his own and was a proud father of two kids. One day, his Mother paid them a surprise visit. She hadn’t seen him for many years and she had never met his grandchildren – she was so eager to meet his grandchildren.

When she stood by the door, his children stared at her in horror, and Vincent yelled at her for coming over uninvited. “How dare you come to my house and scare my children! Get out of here – NOW!”

[99 more such stories in the first series of Akhyayikas]

His mother quietly answered, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address.”

One day, a letter regarding an old school reunion came to Vincent’s house. After the reunion, he went to the old shack just out of curiosity.

His neighbors told him that she had passed away – Vincent did not shed a single tear. They handed him a letter that she had wanted him to have, in case he ever visited.

“My dearest and only son,

I think of you all the time. I’m sorry that I came to your house and scared your children. I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you. I’m sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up.

You see when you were very little, you got into an accident, slipped into a coma, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn’t stand watching you having to grow up with one eye. So I gave you mine. I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye.

With all my love to you,

Your mother.”