The Day My Mother Came Begging I was only ten years old when my mother decided she didn’t want me anymore. She had a new family—a husband, a fresh start—and I didn’t fit into her perfect picture. So, she got rid of me. Just like that. Handed me over like an old toy she no longer had any use for. But my grandmother, Grandma Brooke, took me in. She loved me when no one else did. And years later, the woman who abandoned me showed up at my door… begging.

The day I thought would be the happiest of my life turned into something I never expected. Right at the altar, my mother stood up and stopped the wedding with a loud, shocking outburst. What happened next shattered my heart… but also became the start of my healing. Growing up, my mom, Carla, wasn’t the sweet-and-gentle type. She didn’t sugarcoat anything. She had a sharp eye for people—some said it was intuition, I called it “nosy.” But one thing was always true: she was protective, maybe even too protective sometimes.

The Birthday That Changed Everything Janine didn’t need balloons or a surprise flash mob to feel special. She wasn’t asking for rose petals on the floor or a restaurant proposal. She didn’t want sparkly Instagram posts with “#blessedwife” in the caption. All she wanted—just once a year on her birthday—was a little effort. A pause. A moment that said, “Hey, I see you. I appreciate you.” She didn’t think that was too much to ask. “I’m not dramatic,” Janine would always say. And it was true. She was the kind