A Tale Of Transformation

Emma packed her few things quickly. Running next door, she got Mrs. Brown’s promise to watch her home while she was away. Mrs. Brown wrote down Ann’s phone number in case Emma had to be reached.

  Ann’s mother returned to the trailer and looked at the clock on the wall. A whole 20 minutes to go.

  Then Matthew’s funeral came to mind. With mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, Emma waited.

  Memories came flooding back as Ann drove to her childhood home, especially the memories of Sean. If only she’d had the strength to say no to him in the first place and mean it! But, then Marty wouldn’t have been born, nor the wonderful years with Matthew. No, even bad decisions can be made into something sweet, if you look for the good… and there was good there. Yes, her children were the blessings she would cherish forever.

  Glancing in the rear view mirror, she took a quick look at the beautiful child God had blessed her with in the back seat. Yes, I’m grateful for the children God has given me, she thought.

  Pulling up to the trailer, Ann left Marty in the car and went in the front door to get her mother. In no time at all, Ann had Emma’s small suitcase and returned to the car.

  Following Ann out the door of that decrepit trailer, Emma turned to lock the door of that sad, old place. Years of memories and struggle filled her mind. Years devoted to her only child.

  Suddenly, a strange feeling overwhelmed her. I’m never coming back. This is the last time I will ever stand here. What a silly thing to think! she laughed at the thoughts, but the feeling persisted.

  Talking comfortably together, they drove back to the apartment. Parking the car, Marty took Ann’s keys and ran up the stairs to open the front door. With Ann carrying her mother’s old suitcase, mother and daughter ascended the stairs.

  Upon entering the little home, Emma was delighted by how new and nice it seemed. Though she’d been there before, it looked so different to her this time. Gone were her critical eyes. She was now looking through eyes of gratitude. Everything in her life was so altered, with the changes that were taking place in her heart.

  “Mom, I’ve got to get going. My cell phone number is on the fridge.” The memory of putting that note there, with the bunny magnet she had given Matthew, reminded her of his absence. As a few tears came to her eyes, she reached down and gave her mother an unfamiliar hug, and then she hugged Marty good-bye, as well.

  “Bye… see you this afternoon,” Ann said, as she left to complete the errands she had for that day.

  Emma and Marty went to find the sheets for Matthew’s bed. Emma changed the bedding in all the rooms, did the laundry, then vacuumed and dusted the apartment. She had a nice lunch with her granddaughter, chit-chatting away. Then they turned on the TV to watch cartoons. It brightened Marty’s life to share her favorite things with Grandma.

  When Ann got home later that day, dinner was made and the house looked clean and welcoming.

  “Mom, I thought you were going to relax and be a guest here,” Ann said with some concern, as a small twinge of guilt erupted in her heart over the work her mother had done.

  “I had such a wonderful day with Marty. It wasn’t any trouble Ann,” she said with those puppy eyes that reminded Ann of Marty when she wanted to please so badly.

  “As long as you didn’t work too hard Mom, you’re a guest here,” Ann said, trying to be grateful.

  The next couple of days were special for Ann, Marty, and Emma. They were bonding into a real family. Ann looked with love and fondness at her mother, instead of the old anger and resentment. She tried putting herself in Emma’s shoes, realizing how hard it must have been for her to leave her family, to give up so much to have her daughter in her life, especially when she was so young. In Ann’s heart, a new desire stirred… to see if there wasn’t a way they could stay together, to make this new relationship work.

 

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