My mom gave up all her parental rights and left us 8 months after I was born.

My dad said she never asked about me and I never met her or spoke to her.

A year ago, I saw her name scheduled for an appointment—I work at a law firm.

She came in and all of a sudden, I couldn’t feel my legs.

Her hair was shorter than in the only photo I’d ever seen—sharper, streaked with gray. Her voice sounded like honey mixed with rocks: smooth but rough at the edges. She didn’t recognize me, not even a flicker of pause when she signed in at reception.

I stared at the appointment sheet like it might explain the last 25 years. Tirzah Mendel. Her name looked fake to me. Like it belonged to someone on a different planet, not the woman who birthed me and walked away.

She was here for a will dispute—our firm was representing the other side. I didn’t handle that case directly, but I was the assistant tasked with prepping the files and walking clients to their meetings. So, I had to take her back.

She smiled politely as I led her down the hall, asking if this was “your first year here.” I nearly tripped. My brain screamed to say something, to announce myself, to ask her why. But my mouth said, “No, I’ve been here a while.”

She walked past the family photo I keep at my desk. She didn’t even glance.

After the meeting, she left with her lawyer, chatting about lunch like it was any other Tuesday. I went into the bathroom and threw up.

That night, I called my dad. I hadn’t brought her up in years. The moment I said her name, he went quiet.

“I didn’t tell you before,” he said, voice low, “but she tried to reach out when you turned 18. Just a letter. I didn’t give it to you.”

I felt like I’d been sucker-punched. “Why?”

“She caused you enough pain, Ruhi. I didn’t want her hurting you again.”

I wanted to scream at him, but I couldn’t. Part of me understood. But part of me—this part I didn’t know existed until that day—was desperate to know her. Not because I thought she deserved a second chance. But because I deserved answers.

I couldn’t stop thinking about her. For weeks, I looked up everything I could—Google, LinkedIn, property records. She lived about 40 minutes away, had remarried, no other kids listed. She was a therapist. That part made me laugh out loud.

Eventually, I sent her a letter.

It was short. Just said who I was, that we’d met already at the firm, and I knew everything now. I said I wasn’t angry—just curious. And if she didn’t want to talk, I’d respect that. I included my email.

She replied two days later.

Her message was formal. Polite. Almost cold. She said she hadn’t known I worked there, that seeing my name on the schedule hadn’t rung any bells, and that she was “relieved to hear” I wasn’t angry. But then she added:

“I would like to meet, if you’re open to it. I don’t expect anything from you—I just want to talk.”

We agreed to meet at a café halfway between our places. I got there early. She was ten minutes late.

She wore all beige. No makeup. She looked like someone who never rushed, never panicked. Meanwhile, my hands were sweating through my sleeves.

“Hi, Ruhi,” she said gently, sitting down. “You look like your dad.”

I nodded. I didn’t trust myself to speak.

She started with her version of the story.

She said she was 22 when she had me, and the pregnancy wasn’t planned. My dad was 27, working long hours, barely home. She had postpartum depression, but no one recognized it back then. Her mom told her to “shake it off.”

“I didn’t bond with you,” she said, eyes wet but voice steady. “I felt like a stranger holding someone else’s baby. I know that sounds cruel.”

I said nothing.

“I left because I didn’t trust myself to stay. I thought I was doing the right thing. But I’ve lived with that choice every single day.”

I finally found my voice. “Why didn’t you try harder later? Why just one letter at 18?”

She sighed. “I was scared. And your dad made it very clear he didn’t want me around. I thought maybe you hated me too.”

I wanted to. God, I wanted to. But looking at her, I just felt tired. Like I’d been carrying someone else’s weight for too long.

We met three more times after that. Each time a little easier, a little warmer. She told me about her work, her second marriage (divorced now), and how she’d never had more kids. I told her about my job, my roommate, my ridiculous cat.

Still, something didn’t add up.

She kept dodging deeper questions. Every time I brought up a specific memory—photos, the hospital, her leaving—she’d deflect or go vague. “It’s all a blur,” she’d say. Or, “I don’t want to relive the worst parts.”

Then one day, I saw something that cracked the whole thing open.

I was back at work, filing archived case documents. I came across a custody file from 1999, the year after I was born. The name jumped out at me: Mendel v. Suresh.

That’s her and my dad.

I opened it.

She hadn’t given up her rights. She’d fought for custody.

Not once. Twice.

The court had denied her both times.

The file was sealed, but I was legally allowed to view it since I was the subject of record. The details were messy. She’d been in therapy, yes—but there were also police reports. One neighbor testified she left me crying for hours. Another claimed they saw her slap me once on the porch.

There were photos. Nothing brutal, but enough. Me in a diaper, sitting on a kitchen floor. Dirty bottles in the sink. A timeline of neglect, not outright abuse.

But enough for a judge to say no.

I stared at the papers for a long time. My dad hadn’t lied—she had left. But he’d omitted everything. And so had she.

When I confronted her, she froze.

“You weren’t supposed to find that,” she whispered.

“I work at a law firm,” I said. “Did you think I wouldn’t look?”

She closed her eyes. “I wanted to protect you from how bad I was. I thought maybe if we started clean…”

“But it wasn’t clean,” I snapped. “You lied.”

She didn’t argue. She just nodded, tears streaming silently.

I didn’t talk to her for two months after that. I didn’t even tell my dad.

During that time, I started therapy for the first time in my life. I’d always assumed I was “fine.” But I realized I’d spent years numb to feelings I couldn’t name. The therapist helped me untangle them.

Eventually, I talked to my dad.

I showed him the file. He looked worn out just holding it.

“I didn’t lie,” he said quietly. “I just wanted you to see her as someone not dangerous. I thought maybe, one day, she’d reappear, and I didn’t want you hating her. Or hating yourself for wanting to know her.”

He looked older than I’d ever seen him.

“She was sick,” he said. “But she did try. For a while.”

I asked if he still hated her.

He laughed dryly. “I never hated her. I was just… exhausted.”

And weirdly, that was the moment everything softened. Not just with him. With her, too.

I reached out to her again. Not right away, but eventually.

This time, I didn’t ask questions. I just invited her to come to my birthday dinner. My friends were there, my dad, my roommate, my coworkers. She brought a little box of cookies from a vegan bakery. I don’t even like vegan stuff, but I ate one.

She didn’t stay long. But she smiled when she left. And I let her hug me.

We’re not close. And I don’t think we ever will be, not in the way people imagine moms and daughters should be. But I do know her now. For better or worse.

I used to think I was missing something because she left. Like there was a hole in my life. But I’ve learned something.

Some holes aren’t meant to be filled. They’re meant to be understood. Mapped. Respected.

You don’t have to rebuild every broken thing.

Sometimes, you just need to see it clearly enough to walk around it—without falling in.

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