The life at the shelter felt like a huge burden for Stuart. He was already 13-years-old and he had spent too much time in that place. After years of losing trust in people and building walls around him, he was finally given a permanent home, but he never truly accepted his adoptive mother.
When he first walked inside the shelter as a five-year-old boy, all Stuart had was his tattered teddy bear, which was old and worn, but served as a shield from the outer world this young boy was unfamiliar with.
While the rest of the children were cheerful, he never joined any of their games. Instead, he was always all by himself, refusing to make any friends.
It was as though he accepted the solitude as something that was inevitable.
Over the years, he witnessed many of the children being taken to foster homes or getting adopted, but no one ever approached Stuart. And just as he lost hope, a woman named Jennifer visited the shelter.
She could see the pain in his lovely eyes that didn’t have the spark most children his age had.
Jennifer approached him and attempted to start a conversation, but Stuart shut her out, refusing to speak.
However, after realizing she wouldn’t quit easily, he asked her why she was there and if she was like the rest of the people who come to the shelter and then just leave and never look back.
Extending her hand towards him, she assured him she was there to stay if he wanted to.
But after many disappointments, Stuart doubted the sincerity of her words.
“If you want to come home with me, I’ll be there,” Jennifer said.
Stuart looked her in the eyes and asked, “But why do you want me? Everyone says I’m a sad child.”
His words broke Jennifer’s heart.
“I want you more than anything in this world,” she said.
Stuart felt a glimpse of hope after eight long years spent at the shelter. He was finally getting a place to call home, but sadly, he never accepted Jennifer as his mother.
Jennifer, however, never lost hope. She knew more time needed to pass before Stuart’s wounds healed completely. She prayed that his little heart start to open up. But as years passed, the emotional walls Stuart built around him only grew stronger. He was never close to his adoptive mother and refused any help she has ever offered.One evening, while doing his homework, Jennifer sat next to him, but he threw the papers across the room, telling her he could handle things on his own.
Many times, he would remind her that she was just his adoptive mother, not his real one, and that he wasn’t her son.
Every time he uttered those words, a piece of her fragile heart broke.
When he learned that Jennifer was seriously ill, he still treated her as nothing but a stranger, unable to embrace her love.
Sadly, Jennifer passed away shortly after she learned of her cancer diagnosis. On her funeral, Stuart stood in a corner, silent and with not a single tear in his eyes.
Spotting him there, Jennifer’s best friend, Carol, remembered Jennifer’s final request: to help Stuart learn how much she loved him.
A few days passed by and Carol, who was appointed as Stuart’s guardian, visited him. “Stuart, you should visit your mom’s grave. Se left something for you there.”
Intrigued, Stuart headed towards the cemetery. Indeed, there was an envelop on the grave of his adoptive mother. He grabbed it and opened it, his cold demeanor still unaffected.In the letter, Jennifer wrote of the pain she felt when she left him at the shelter with a promise to return for him when she would stand on her feet. She struggled financially and emotionally and couldn’t take care of him, but she loved him even before he was born.
