The One-Eyed Mother

Once upon a time, in a quiet little village, there lived a poor mother and her only son. The mother had only one eye. Every day, she worked hard to provide food and clothes for her son. She didn’t care about her own pain, because her heart was full of love for her child.

When the boy was small, he never thought about his mother’s one eye. To him, she was just his kind, loving mother. But when he grew older and went to school, things started to change.

At school, his classmates teased him. They laughed and said things like, “Hey, look at him! His mother is ugly with one eye!” The boy felt embarrassed. He lowered his head in shame. Slowly, shame turned into anger.

One day, when he came home from school, he shouted at his mother:

“Why do you have only one eye? You’re making my life miserable. Can’t you just disappear?”

The mother listened quietly. Her heart broke into pieces, but she didn’t argue. She loved her son too much to answer with anger.

The years passed by. The boy worked hard in school, went to college in the city, and became successful. He found a good job, got married, and built a new life for himself. In this new life, he never mentioned his mother. He didn’t visit her, and he didn’t invite her to his wedding. He thought, “If my mother comes, people will laugh at me again.”

But his mother never stopped loving him. She missed him every day and prayed for his happiness.

One day, many years later, the old mother decided to visit her son in the city. She wore her best old clothes and found his address. When she knocked on his door, his little daughter opened it. The mother smiled warmly at her granddaughter.

But when the son came to the door and saw his mother, he was shocked and angry.

“What are you doing here?” he shouted. “I told you never to come! Get away from my house! Don’t you see I have a family now? I don’t want them to be ashamed of me like I was of you!”

The old mother looked at her son with tired, loving eyes. She softly said, “I’m sorry. I just wanted to see you once.” And then, without another word, she turned and left.

A few months later, the son received a letter from his village. It said that his mother had died. His heart felt heavy, but he still wasn’t sure how to feel. He decided to return to his childhood home to handle her belongings.

When he entered the old, broken house, painful memories rushed over him. On a small table, he found a letter that his mother had written before she died. With shaking hands, he opened it and began to read:

“My dear son,

I’m sorry that I embarrassed you with my one eye. When you were a little boy, you had an accident and lost one of your eyes. I could not bear to see you grow up with only one eye and suffer from the pain and bullying of others. So, I gave you my own eye.

I was proud to see you grow up and live a happy life with both your eyes. I never told you the truth because I didn’t want to hurt you. I just wanted you to smile and see the world fully, even if I had to see it with only one eye.

Forgive me, my son, for not being beautiful. But I loved you with all my heart.”

Tears fell from his eyes as he finished the letter. His chest hurt with regret. He dropped to his knees and cried for the love he had rejected and the sacrifice he had never thanked.

But it was too late. The one who loved him the most was already gone.

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Moral of the story: Love your parents while they are alive. Their sacrifices for you are greater than you will ever know.