"I'm what?" I asked her.
"I adopted you when you were three years old. I found you cold, wet and crying on my doorstep with a letter addressed to me. That envelope you found, is the letter your birth Mother had written to me when she let you. I was going to give it to you in a few years when you could understand some more. I didn't want you to find out and feel like you don't belong here because you do." She explained and I couldn't comprehend what that meant. I was so confused. How was I adopted? I couldn't remember ever living with different family.
"What happened to my birth family?" I asked her quietly.
"Your dad was a bad man, he hurt your Mom and she was scared he would hurt you. So she had no choice but to hide you and she watched me closely for months before she left you with me. She loves you a lot but couldn't know where you were. So after I officially adopted you, I left my house and moved to a different state." She explained to me and it still wasn't doing any Justice for me.
"So my Mom dropped me off to you as a 3 year old and you became my Mom? Why didn't you just put me into care?" I asked. I wasn't trying to be nasty, but I was trying to understand and she would have been young at the time and she surely hadn't even thought for kids with such a good career.
"Giving you up was never an option, you had my heart the minute I saw you. I gave you everything I could because I wanted to not because I felt like I owed it to anyone. You were such a sweet child and I love you. Just because you're not mine by blood doesn't mean you're not mine at all." I smiled and wrapped my arms around her.
"Thank you, Mom. I love you so much," I whispered to her.
"I love you too baby. You don't have to call me Mom right now if you still need time to process this?" She told me and I shook my head in disagreement.
"You'll always be my Mom, Mom. You took me in and kept me safe. I can't thank you enough for that. Even now, I am still thinking of you as my Mom. You are and forever will be my Mom." She was truly remarkable and I loved her. She was amazing and I couldn't believe she took me in without knowing the first thing about children or even after the thought of having a child. She was the only family I truly had and I loved her to the moon and back.
