Mary

There was a knock at the door and my Great Grandmother got up to answer, it was my Grandfather and he had bad news; that evening my Mother was killed in an accident. She was the passenger of a truck that went off the road and she was thrown from the vehicle and died. The family all started arriving shortly after that, there were many tears shed that night but not from me. If my memory is correct I walked around telling everyone that it would be ok but that is trying to remember back 32 years and I am not sure if they are my own memories or those that have been told to me over the years. I unfortunately did not know my mother to grieve for her that night, she was mother by name only.

It used to make me so angry that she left me as a baby, never intending to come back and care for me as a mother should. As I grew older though and went through my own highs and lows I understand that she might not have been in a very good place in her life to care for 2 girls. However, after having babies I can't imagine how a mother would ever just drop her daughter off and not come back and get her. I don't know if she ever visited because I have no memories of them if she did. There is 1 surviving photo of her and I and as far as I know it is the only one EVER taken.

When tragedy strkes a family like this there are many children who don't get as lucky as I did. My Great-Grandparents kept me with them, as it had always been, and I had a wonderful home to be raised in that was filled with love. Many times there isn't a person in the family able to care for the children and they are sent into foster care, my heart breaks for those kids.

I did not even know until this year the actual day that she died, it just didn't seem to matter to me. Who knows how life would have been different had she survived the accident as the driver did, maybe she would have come back for me and my sister I would like to think so anyway. Today on the anniversary of her death I would just like to thank her for choosing life for a daughter that was a huge mistake at the time. I would also like to thank her so much for choosing to leave me with my Great-Grandparents, a more loving home couldn't be found.