I didn’t think that a normal trip to my mom’s grave would lead to the discovery of a long-buried secret. But that’s exactly what happened when I saw a stranger throwing away the flowers I had put there with care.
I had been going to my parents’ graves and leaving fresh flowers on my mom’s for weeks. But every time I went back, they were gone, while my dad’s were still there. It looked like my honors were being erased on purpose.
I was determined to find the person who did it, so I got there early one morning and saw a woman throwing away flowers from my mother’s grave without caring. I spoke to her, my feelings running high. So she didn’t say sorry, she said something that would rock my world: “Your mother wouldn’t mind sharing.”
That woman’s smile hurt, but what she said next took my breath away: “I’m her daughter too.” My mind was spinning as I tried to figure out what it all meant. Is it possible? Had my mom kept a sister from me?
Thoughts of shock, anger, deception, and sadness filled my mind as I looked at this stranger who was now my sister. Another painful lie that had been kept from us for too long hurt us both.
I made a choice at that time. I put out an olive branch instead of letting anger and bitterness drive a wedge between us. I said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know about you.” My voice was barely above a whisper. “But maybe… we don’t have to keep hurting each other.”
As we talked and shared our tears and stories, I understood that our mother’s secret had been a heavy burden that had hurt both of us deeply. But now that we knew the truth, we could start to connect the loose ends of our family’s history.
I got a sister, a new point of view, and the chance to rewrite our family’s past because of that chance meeting at my mother’s grave.
