Because if she was truly well, why did the message never say anything more?
We had only one video call during those twelve years.
She was still beautiful.
But something in her eyes had changed.
She smiled, but it never quite reached them.
She always seemed distracted.
Always rushed.
Always eager to end the conversation.
One day I finally asked the question I had been carrying for years.
“Why don’t you ever come home?”
She went quiet.
For several seconds neither of us spoke.
Then she forced a small smile and said:
“I’m very busy, Mom.”
That was all.
I never asked again.
Sometimes mothers stop asking questions because they are afraid of hearing answers they cannot bear.
The years continued to pass.
The money she sent changed my life.
I repaired the roof.
I renovated the kitchen.
I replaced furniture that had been older than my daughter herself.
