"Steemit Challenge s28wk2 : Remembering Through Healing

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Losing her mother left an ache that time wouldn’t heal, yet, being back home gave her one quiet truth to hold on to, love doesn’t leave, even when people do.....

The memories of her mother’s sacrifices and hard work, especially after the loss, were constantly gnawing away at her.

Tina could not bring herself to go near any of the household items associated with her mother. Whenever she looked at the things her mother used all the time, a dark cloud seemed to settle over her mind.

The situation was made worse by the fact that her mother’s room hadn’t been cleaned for a long time and had become very dusty. One evening, Tina went toward her mother's room to clean it. She stopped right at the doorway; some strange feeling seemed to hold her body to forward. She kept trying to step forward but was pulled back repeatedly. The remorse in her heart felt like an invisible barrier preventing her from entering.

Suddenly, she felt as if someone was calling her from the side of the wall. The voice said, "Tina, why are you standing at the door? Come inside." Her guilt-ridden mind now only wanted to answer her mother’s call. Tina entered the room, placed the broom and dustbin she was holding on the floor, and slowly walked toward her mother’s Almirah.

Standing next to the almirah, Tina remembered how carefully her mother used to keep it and how organized she always kept her things. Today, without her mother, the dust had dimmed its brightness. Opening the almirah, all of her mother's neatly arranged belongings seemed to remind Tina that her mother was a woman of great taste and order.

As she opened the middle drawer of the almirah, she found a letter tucked under a box. Seeing her own name written on the latter made Tina instantly anxious. She thought, "This letter must contain all the things Mother couldn't say during our fights. All her complaints and anger must be in this letter." She murmured to herself, "Mother, did you write down all my failures and all your grievances?"

Her guilty mind and fear forced Tina to believe that reading this letter would mean carrying her mother's written curse for the rest of her life. The letter suddenly slipped from her hand. Thinking she heard her mother's voice causing the room to shake, she covered her ears with both hands. She sat on the floor in fear and began to cry. She kept pleading, "Mother, for all our arguments, for all the harsh words I spoke, I am sorry. Please forgive me, forgive me."

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As she spoke, she felt the room turn into a profound stillness; the trembling she had felt seemed to stop. She bravely reached for the letter on the floor and picked it up. She sat on her mother's bed and slowly began to open it. As she read each line, her tears intensified, but this time they were tears of release, because the letter contained no complaints for her at all.

The letter was a loving memory about a funny time when they had a Saree-wearing competition to see who could wear a saree best and fastest. Tina had won the competition. Her mother, who had taught Tina how to wear a saree, felt proud that her daughter was better than her and recognized the talent in her daughter.

The realization that parents only ever wish for their children to be more successful than they were.

Knowing that the letter contained her mother’s pride in her, Tina’s guilt began to disappear instantly. She understood the immense power of love—that even after her mother was gone, she was still inspiring her to move forward. Tina wiped the tears from her eyes, carefully put her mother’s letter away, and began to clean the room. She felt that even though her mother had left, her love and blessings would help her fight life's battles, and she would no longer be step back.

Thank you to the organizers @dove11 for this challenge. I invite my three friends, @edgargonzalez @muzac, @jyoti-thelight to participate in this beautiful challenge topic.