The Unseen Love: A Mother's Secret

ol evening air hit my face, but i

ilence, his presence a

she? After

in my mind, a relentl

wasn' t personal, that Mom just did

and constant neediness, simply

act, it was personal. It w

. You are not love

bered b

a new bicycle, a fancy B

fts at the diner for

school; my old ones h

said, her voice tired. "Yo

ed carefully, avoiding puddles, while Jack zoome

ke that. His wan

e was hig

ed with A' s. I made the

e, a small flutter

barely glancing up from the TV, or fr

raping by, more interested in

ired a tutor, sat with him fo

sed with a D, she t

the fridge, held by a magn

showing her my report c

as the sa

ity. I worked two jobs to cover the rest – shelv

stant noodles

e was going to

one her own mother had left her, to buy him a top-o

ege after one semester, saying i

him. She told him t

about my studi

ed I' d manage

st was

before my student teaching semeste

e, but not enough for

sked Mom if she could lend

hat familiar, weary tone. "Jack' s had s

expenses" were for new stage outfits

ers, an hour and a half each way to t

usted, but

tion hurt, how it solidified the f

fter Dad left and her health

e

appointments, managed her medications,

about the aches and pains, about Jack' s la

our, charm her, get a check,

was there, her eyes foll

ut, and she' d be quiet and withdr

he of resentment always

hat daughters do. Or what

ar before she got really sick,

ed of baked app

rare sight those days, p

s," she' d mumbled, not loo

e was my

through my chest. Maybe... ma

Jack. His van had broken down

tten, as she fretted over the pho

h in my c

the weakness that led to the diagn

s final, crush