I took care of my grandson starting when he was just two. My son didn’t want to take responsibility, and the child’s mother completely disappeared. My grandson relied on me for everything, and I loved him like he was my own. I fed him, comforted him during bad dreams, and watched him grow up. I thought our life together would never change.
But when he turned twelve, everything fell apart.
One morning, his mother suddenly came back. She wore fancy clothes and brought a lawyer with her. She didn’t even look at her son before saying something that almost made me collapse: “Thanks for taking care of him. I’ll take over now.”
Just like that, she took him away. I had no legal right to stop her. I watched the car drive off, my grandson crying and pressing his face against the window. After that, they disappeared. No calls, no messages — nothing.
For years, I lived with a pain that never went away. I kept his room the same and prayed he would return someday.
Then, on his 18th birthday, someone knocked on my door. When I opened it, I froze. It was him — older, taller, stronger — but with the same kind eyes. He walked in and immediately started crying. I thought he just came to visit for a little while.
But then he hugged me tightly and whispered, “You will always be my favorite person — the one I love and respect the most.”
Before I could even speak, he put a set of keys in my hand.
He told me that now that he was an adult, he could choose where to live — and he chose to live with me. He had rented a nice house with an elevator because he remembered how hard it was for me to climb the stairs in my old place.
I asked how he paid for all of this. He said he saved every bit of allowance his mother ever gave him, all so he could come back to me one day.
Now we have this special year together before he goes to college. We cook, watch old cartoons, and talk for hours — making up for all the lost years.
When I look at him now, so kind and thoughtful, I know one thing: nothing — not time, not distance, not anyone — can break the love between a grandmother and her grandson.