My dad died when I was eight, and everything changed overnight. My mom remarried, hoping for a fresh start, but her new husband didn’t want a child. I quickly became an inconvenience.

She said she was too young to pause her life, and I was sent into foster care with nothing but memories and the quiet hope she might one day come back for me. Growing up in foster homes forced me to learn resilience early. I learned independence, patience, and how to build a life from nothing.

Still, I often wondered if my mother ever thought of me—or regretted letting me go. Fifteen years passed. I moved forward, though the questions never fully left.

Then one afternoon, a knock at my door changed everything.

A young woman stood there with a familiar smile. She introduced herself as my half-sister and said she’d been searching for me. She told me our mother had passed away, and the words settled heavily in my chest. In her hands was a small wrapped box.

Inside was a letter from my mother. She wrote that she thought of me often, regretted her choices, and wished she’d had the courage to keep me. She hoped life had been kind to me despite her absence.

Her final words stayed with me: “If life allows, I hope we meet again in kindness, not regret.”

I cried—not from anger, but from finally finding peace and closure after all those years.