A twenty-year-old woman learns the truth about her beloved mother and mentally tortures herself for forming an assumed judgment before knowing the facts. She writes a letter to her mother that will never be seen.
One in a Million
The woman describes her mom as a woman who believes that people are fundamentally good. She feels that she is the most empathetic and emotionally intelligent person who has love for everyone.
A Selfless Upbringing
She felt that every aspect of her upbringing was selfless at the hands of her mom. Nothing was ever too troublesome, and her mom would go to the ends of the earth to make others happy.
Mother/Daughter Bonding
The woman frequently sees her mom due to their close relationship. They stay at each other’s houses and go on vacations together. She regards her mom as her best friend.
An Unexpected Find
Quite recently, the woman was at her parent’s house. She was helping her mom with something when she noticed a piece of paper barely sticking out of a folder. She felt intrigued.
A Shocking Truth
All she could see was a title that ended with the phrase ‘Survivor’ and something that looked like her sister’s name next to the right margin on the second line.
Broken Trust
The woman instantly felt as though she shouldn’t have read it, but she felt that anyone in her position would do the same. She felt as though she was in a difficult position.
Gone Too Far
There was a split second when she considered pretending she’d never seen it. But selfishly, she thought she had to know, or she’d be forever asking questions. It was an impossible situation.
An Overactive Imagination
Naively, she thought that whatever she could imagine could be far worse than what had actually happened, so the need to take a look at the letter seemed essential.
A Popular Girl
The woman thinks back to stories her mom has told her of her past. She always got the impression that her mother was, and is a popular likable extrovert who drank like a fish in college and always had a date to dances.
Norms Have Changed
What concerned her most was the fact that norms have changed. There were experiences that might seem like assault in hindsight that would not have been considered so at the time. She was just concerned that she’d regret looking.
A Hazy Expectation
The girl was expecting a story involving fuzzy boundaries and fuzzy memories, the edges worn down by the decades passed since. As with many similar stories, she expected confused and drunken encounters and a lack of clarity.
Lessening the Anguish
She never wanted to invalidate her mom’s experience precisely but mentally minimize it so that she could handle what she was about to encounter. She was absolutely terrified, and her hands were shaking.
A Horrible Realization
When she opened it, she realized it was an essay. And the incident itself was brutal. Behind her apartment. By two strangers. At gunpoint. On her 24th birthday.
A Similar Age
It struck her that when the incident occurred, she was six months younger than she was now. That made her feel as bad as any other aspect for some reason.
She Came Forward
The woman noticed that the essay commented on how her mother had reported the crime and shared it with those around her. She talked about how it tested her support network.
A Needless Punishment
Her new boyfriend had dumped her, and people—female and male alike—asked her what she was wearing at the time of the incident. She wrote of how men who had been casually interested in her suddenly treated her like she was infected.
A Physical Reaction
The whole essay made her feel nauseous, and when she’d finished, she struggled to digest the information. She cried and felt as though her heart had been broken.
Betrayal of Trust
By picking up that paper and making assumptions before she’d even started reading, she felt as though she’d betrayed her mother and stolen something that belonged to her.
A Written Apology
The woman knew that she was unable to share her apology with her mother. Instead, she wrote her a long letter that she would probably never give her. She started with the words, “Dear Mom, I’ve Stolen from You.”
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