She Lied

She lied.

She stroked my hair, hummed me a lullaby and said she'd be there always.

She lied.

She taught me how to walk, caught me in her arms when I fell, and said she'd walk by my side for as long as I need her.

She lied.

She sent me off to pre-school, the wind blew her kisses to my cold, red cheeks. She waved and said she'd do the same for many more years to come.

She lied.

I sobbed on her shoulders as my heart cracked open from my first love. She cradled my head and crooned, "You'll meet the perfect girl one day. I'll be there for your wedding and when you have children, I'll be there to make them laugh. I promise."

She LIED.

She fought with my dad, packed her bags, and drove away. She never came back.

She was never there "always".

I NEEDED her but she left my side.

She never sent me off to college and blew me kisses.

She never made it to my wedding.

She never got to see her beautiful granddaughter laugh her first.

So I held my daughter in my arms, stroked her hair, and hummed her a lullaby.

"With all that I am, come joy or pain," I whispered in her shell-pink ear. "I will NEVER abandon you."

I fought and won victory over cancer twice, survived a divorce, and went through poverty.

But my baby daughter is now a happy, successful, married doctor; I never left her side.

My mother's lies,

Were the lessons for my promises.