At the age of 11, the reader was abandoned by her mother, who left the family to be with another man. Her father raised her alone from that point on. Now 29, her father has passed away, and she lives in the house they once shared. The story begins when, after years of no contact, her estranged mother unexpectedly calls.

Her mother reveals she is terminally ill and expresses a desire to “fix things.” She asks to move back into the home, claiming it’s the house she “raised” her daughter in. The reader responds bluntly, reminding her that she left and did not raise her. Her mother breaks down in tears, accusing her of being cruel and pointing out that she is her only child.

At first, the reader doesn’t think much of the call. But the next day, the situation escalates when police arrive at her door. A neighbor had called, reporting an unresponsive woman on the reader’s front steps. It turns out to be her mother, who had apparently been sitting there for hours with her suitcases, possibly having collapsed from fatigue or not taking her medication.

Her mother is taken to the hospital, and the police ask if the reader is her emergency contact. She tells them no. Though she experiences a pang of guilt, she stands firm in her boundaries. The emotional damage from her mother’s abandonment runs deep.

She explains that she has already spent most of her life mourning the loss of her mother — not due to death, but due to abandonment. That long-term grief makes it even harder to accept this sudden return, no matter the circumstances.

She concludes by asking a painful question: does refusing her mother now make her heartless? The answer, though complex, may be no.