Post by CelticCailín on Jul 7, 2011 3:28:02 GMT -5
I heard my parents yell at me from the kitchen.
"Kathleen!!! Come here. We would like to speak to you."
So I trudged my way downstairs, hoping I wasn't in trouble for something yet again. My parents were sitting at the kitchen table, with sad and distraught looks on their faces.
"Sit down, honey. We need to tell you something important."
Warily, I sat down across from my mom and dad.
"What is it you need to tell me?' I asked, suddenly anxious.
"Well, we just want you to know we love you very much, and well, we think you are old enough now to hear the truth."
"The truth about what?" I said, getting a bit annoyed they chose this moment to be cryptic.
"Kathleen, sweetie, the truth is, you are adopted. We took you in as a baby. You see, we wanted children of our own, but that just never happened. So when we heard that the children's home down the street had just gotten a little baby girl, we decided this was our chance. We took one look at you and knew you were meant to be our daughter. You are originally from Ireland, that is where the home got you from."
My mother said all of this in a soft voice that sounded like she was about to cry any second.
'Wait, so you're not my real parents? Where are my real mom and dad? Why aren't I with them where I belong, instead of here in America with you?'
I was stunned, in utter shock. I simply refused to believe I had been given up by my own flesh and blood, to be raised by total strangers!
"Sweetie, you have to understand. Your mother was left by your father, and she simply had too much to bear as a young, single mother." My "dad" said it all bluntly, matter-of-fact.
My mind was going a million different directions at once. My mom was left by my father, and then she gave up her firstborn like it was nothing! On the other hand, my "parents" had treated me well, had given me love and support when I had needed it the most.
My mother spoke up then.
"Kathy, don't think your mother just forgot about you. She didn't. In fact, I have a letter right here from her that she said to give to you when you knew the truth."
Then I saw it. The old, tattered envelope slid across the table from my mother's hands into my own. It was adressed to me, but the return address was unfamiliar. Londonderry?? Where in the world is that?? I wondered. With shaking hands and barely holding back tears and anger, I gently opened the aged letter.
It read,
"My dearest Kathy. I know this must be a shock for you, getting a letter from a mother you never knew you had. Well, when you have read this you will know who I am, and what I am asking of you. Please, don't be upset I gave you up, it was my only choice, I could not and would not let us both live as beggars on the street or in a homeless shelter. You may have noticed that there is an aeroplane ticket along with this letter. My daughter, I would love nothing more than for you to come home to see me, at least for a little while. All the arrangements have been made, and your foster parents have already agreed to let you come home if that is what you want. Please, give me a chance to be the mother I never was.
Love,
your affectionate mother."
I looked over the letter, twice, thrice, then a fourth time. I couldn't believe this! My mother wants me to meet her? In Ireland?? Then, my father suddenly broke my train of thought.
"Kathy, we understand completely if you want to go home and meet your mother." He spoke gently, as if to a child.
"Yes, I think I want to go home..." I replied. My thoughts drifted to green fields, the endless Atlantic, and rain.. Lots of it...
"Sweetheart, we will drive you to the airport first thing tomorrow morning." whispered my mother.
I got up from the table, and went upstairs to pack, and think about my future with a mother I don't know, and an unfamiliar new country. I quickly stuffed my clothes into a suitcase along with my mother's letter, and drifted off into a fitful sleep...