I’ll never forget the day I went to the hospital to get my wife Suzie and our twin babies. I was looking forward to a happy meeting, but what I found instead was shocking: Suzie had left behind only a vague note.
I felt like my whole world had been turned upside down as I stood in the empty hospital room. “Take care of them” was written on the note. My worry and confusion were made worse by the words “Ask your mother WHY she did this to me.”
It was important to me to find out what happened to Suzie and why she left. First, I asked my mother, who had a bad history with Suzie, some questions. But she said she had nothing to do with Suzie’s disappearance.
I was having a hard time taking care of our twins, Callie and Jessica, by myself as the days went into weeks. I was mentally and physically worn out and desperate for answers.
Not until I found a letter my mum had written to Suzie did I start to understand what was really going on. The mean and hurtful letter showed that my mom had been picking on Suzie for years, making her feel like she wasn’t good enough and useless.
I felt sick and ashamed. What kind of mother could have been so mean to Suzie? I realised I hadn’t seen how tense things were between them and that I hadn’t done enough to keep my mother from being mean to Suzie.
When I talked to my mum about what she did, she broke down and admitted it. I told her she wasn’t welcome in our house anymore and that I needed some time to think about what had happened.
I kept taking care of our kids over the months, but I never gave up hope that Suzie would come back. Then she did it one day.
Suzie stood on our porch with a small gift bag in her hand. She looked worried but determined. I was so sad that I had to pull her into my arms and hold her tight while she cried.
Over the next few weeks, Suzie told me how my mother’s mean words had made her feel like she couldn’t handle any more life after giving birth. She left to protect our twins and get away from the hate and sadness that were taking over her.
As she talked about her path to healing, I held her hand and listened. I realised that I had forgotten to think about Suzie’s problems because I was so focused on my own pain and confusion.
Being healed is a process, not a goal. This is what I learnt as we worked to fix our relationship. There needs to be love, time, and care. But I knew that Suzie and I could handle anything as long as we had each other.
