“Are you sure? It’s pretty quick by car,” Amelia almost pleaded. She truly wanted to meet her grandson.

“Some other time, Mom. I have to go. See you later!” he hung up, and Amelia plopped down on her couch with a huge sigh.

She was worried about Mark’s attitude lately. It seemed like he had been pulling away from her. If she was being honest, it started happening when he married Camilla.

Camilla came from an extremely wealthy family in Connecticut, while Amelia raised Mark as a single mother with the help of his grandmother. They never had much except tons of love. But now, her son had everything. Camilla’s parents gifted them a huge house after they eloped, and he was living the high life.

Ever since then, Amelia felt left out, as if he was ashamed of his background, although he never said it outright.

But she had a sudden idea. She could walk to his house. It might be challenging, but she could do it. The bus routes didn’t reach his home, and she couldn’t afford it, so walking was her only option.

Amelia heaved herself up with her walker and grabbed her purse and a bag she had prepared for that day. She hung them on the walker securely and started her journey. It was slow, and although she could lean on the walker, it was tough on her.

She had to stop several times along the way, and before she knew it, two hours had passed. Three. Four. Finally, she reached his house, heaving heavily but happy that she had done it even with her walking issues.

“Mom?” he said, shocked. “What are you doing here?”

Amelia didn’t understand his expression and almost frowned, but she was was excited to be there and that’s what she focused on. “Surprise!” she said, trying to sound enthusiastic although she was tired, hungry, and concerned about his attitude.

Mark stepped out, closing the door behind him and forcing her to take several steps back with her walker. “What are you doing, Mark?” she asked, frowning now.

“Mom! I told you you would meet the baby some other time. You can’t come in right now!” he scolded her, his face crumpled in anger.

“I don’t care what you brought! I don’t want you here right now. You need to go immediately! You’ll meet Hans another day, alright? Please just go now!” he demanded, looking behind him as if worried that someone would see them. He opened the door and returned inside, shutting the door in her face and leaving her standing outside with her things.

Amelia was shocked. Tears gathered in her eyes. He didn’t even ask if she was alright, although she had just told him about walking for five hours to get there. He knew she had problems with mobility.

But she didn’t want to cause any more trouble, so she started to turn around, then she remembered the bag in her hands. She decided to leave it outside his door, hoping he would find it later.

Amelia set out to walk home, prepared for the long, tiring hours that lay ahead. Luckily, her neighbor, Mrs. Cassavetes, saw her and gave her a ride in her old car. When she arrived home, her legs gave out as soon as she closed her front door. She sat down on the couch, and that’s when she noticed her legs were inflamed.

Meanwhile, Mark said goodbye to his guests that night, waving at them through his front door. It had been a hectic day with many visitors, and it was finally over. He hunched his shoulders, thinking about his actions earlier that day.

His mother had walked to his house from her own home, he thought guiltily, then shook his head, convincing himself that it was not his fault.

“She shouldn’t have done that,” he whispered to himself. As he turned around, he noticed the bag on the floor. He picked it up and saw a tag labeled, “From Grandma.”

Mark bit his lip, thinking about his mother leaving it there and returning to her house. He opened the bag and realized what was inside. They were his old toys from his childhood. They never had much at his house, but these items were always precious to him. They still were. He couldn’t help but start crying.

Camilla saw him outside and got worried. “What’s wrong, honey?”

“I did something horrible to my mother,” he wailed, and his wife embraced him. He revealed everything he had done, including that he started pulling away from his family because they were all poor, and he felt ashamed. “I can’t believe I was so horrible to her!”

After his wife comforted him, Mark decided to drive to his mother’s house immediately with a big apology. He still had the keys to her house in case of emergencies, so when he got there, he decided not to ring the doorbell and just use them to get in. But he was greeted by the vision of his mother passed out on the couch with cold compresses on her legs.

“Mom,” he whispered, waking her up gently.

“Mark, why are you here?” she said groggily and tried to get up, but he stopped her.

Luckily, his mother was the most fantastic person in the world. “I had a feeling you were ashamed, but I’m glad you came here right away to apologize. That’s what I taught you. When you do something wrong, you have to make things right,” Amelia reassured him, and Mark cried into her arms for some time.

He stayed with her the entire night, and fortunately, her legs were much better. The next morning, they decided to go to his house so she could meet his new baby, Hans.

Eventually, Mark asked his mother to move in with them because they had a huge house, and he didn’t want her to be all alone so far away.

What can we learn from this story?

• Never be ashamed of your parents. Mark felt embarrassed about his background and tried to keep it from Camilla’s family, hurting his mother in the process. He regretted it later.
• It’s best to make things right when you realize you made a mistake. Mark immediately tried to make things right after realizing his horrible mistake against his mother. Luckily, she forgave him quickly.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a teenager who banned his mother from his birthday because she couldn’t afford his gift.