I flew to visit my son unannounced, but he said, “Who invited you? Leave.”
I silently left and did something that, by morning, made my phone show 72 missed calls. For 32 years, I thought I knew what it meant to be a mother.
I raised my son, Daniel, in a small house in Ohio. I worked double shifts at the hospital to pay for his college and never missed a single one of his baseball games. When he moved to Seattle for his job in tech, I was proud.
When he married Amanda three years ago, I welcomed her with open arms. When my two grandchildren were born—Lily, now five, and baby Connor, just eighteen months—I thought my life was complete. I visited them twice a year, always calling weeks in advance, always bringing gifts, always careful not to overstep.
Amanda seemed pleasant enough, though there was something in her smile that never quite reached her eyes. But I told myself I was imagining things. After all, she was young, busy with two small children, and Daniel seemed happy.
The last time I’d seen my grandchildren was six months ago. Six months. Amanda always had excuses when I suggested visiting.
The kids were sick. They were renovating. They had family coming from her side.
I tried video calls, but those became shorter and shorter, always cut off with some urgent reason. “Lily’s having a tantrum.”
“Connor’s nap time.”
“We’re just heading out.”
Something felt wrong. That feeling—that mother’s intuition that wakes you at 3:00 a.m.—wouldn’t let me rest.
So I did something I’d never done before. I booked a flight to Seattle without telling anyone. I wanted to surprise them, yes, but more than that, I needed to see with my own eyes that everything was okay.
Was I overreacting? Maybe. But what kind of grandmother goes six months without holding her grandchildren?
I arrived on a Tuesday afternoon, took an Uber straight from the airport to their house in the suburbs—a beautiful craftsman‑style home with a manicured lawn and a swing set in the backyard. My heart was pounding as I walked up those steps, my small suitcase in hand. I could hear children’s laughter inside, and it made me smile for the first time in weeks.
I rang the doorbell. The laughter stopped. I heard footsteps.
Then Daniel’s voice, muffled through the door. “Did you order something?”
Amanda’s response was too quiet to hear. Then the door opened.
The story doesn’t end here –
it continues on the next page.
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