I Decided to Return Home, Even Though I Swore I Would Never Set Foot in That House Again

This holiday season, I am returning to my hometown, to rest my face against my mother’s chest and cry as much as I need to. I will apologize to her, even though just three years ago, I swore I would never step foot in that house again.

The bus ticket is purchased, my bags are packed, and I’m finally ready to go back and stay with my mother. It has taken me a lot of courage to make this decision. Because three years ago, I swore to myself I would never return to that house.

At that time, when my mother found out I was in love with a married man, she tried to stop me. She didn’t want me to become the other woman, to be despised by society for breaking up someone’s marriage.

But my first love made me blind. The emotions took over my reason, and I believed every sweet word he said. He whispered that he was unhappy with his wife, that they didn’t share the same life goals. They didn’t have children and would soon divorce.

He promised to love me and asked for time to settle things with his wife. Afterward, he would marry me and we would build our happiness together.

I believed him so much that I obeyed him. I went to my mother, asking her to sell the house so we could start a life of our own. But my mother, being a woman who had been through many hardships, was not easily convinced. After being abandoned by my father and raising me as a single mother, she no longer trusted men.

She tried her best to stop my reckless love for this man. She insisted that the person I loved was just a womanizer and that this relationship would only bring me pain.

But at that time, I was in the grip of love. I argued with my mother and refused to listen to her. When he divorced, I decided to move out and live with him, no matter how hard my mother tried to stop me.

Then, I became pregnant, and life became difficult as both of us were unemployed. Not long after, he kept urging me to go back to my mother and ask her to sell the house to raise money for us to take care of our baby.

Out of concern for the child in my womb, I listened to him and returned to ask my mother to sell the house. Once again, my mother cried but still refused.

She explained that selling the house would only make things worse for both of us. She believed that the money would eventually be wasted by my husband at the casino. She also said that by not selling the house, she was leaving us a way to come back if he ever abandoned me.

But I still didn’t believe her. I thought my mother didn’t love me. I thought she was intentionally making things difficult for me and speaking ill of my husband. And so, my mother and I argued fiercely. In my anger, I told her that if she didn’t need me and my child, I didn’t need her either.

In the heat of the moment, I swore before her that I wouldn’t ever return to that house again, and I didn’t. After that, I never came back, nor did I contact or answer her calls.

With no money, my life became hell. I was rejected by the person I loved. In the end, I realized that everything my mother had said was true.

He had come to me only for my money. When he realized I couldn’t get money from my mother or sell the house, he cursed me terribly. Finally, he left me for a woman from a different background.

I was heartbroken, deceived by love, but the pain of ignoring my mother’s advice was far worse. I was ashamed to face her, too embarrassed to tell her the truth. During that time, every time I thought about her or recalled her words, my heart broke.

Whenever I saw her number on my phone, my heart would tighten, and tears would flow. More than ever, I needed my mother. I longed to kneel, embrace her, and apologize. I wished to hear her scold me, reprimand me like she used to. But I didn’t have the courage to do it.

For three years, I drowned in regret and humiliation. Finally, after countless nights of crying alone, I gathered enough courage to call my mother. Before dialing, I prepared myself for whatever response she might have.

But as soon as I heard her voice saying, “Is it you, Y.?” I couldn’t keep my composure anymore. I cried out, “Mom!” It wasn’t as I feared—she didn’t scold or coldly rebuke me.

She simply said, “I know, my dear,” and cried with me. When we both calmed down, she said, “If you’re too tired, come back home to me.”

Those words made my throat choke with happiness. I realized that in the end, family is the only place where we are accepted and forgiven for all our mistakes.

I am grateful to my mother, and I decided to buy a ticket back to my hometown. I will return to bury my face in her chest, cry to my heart’s content, and say I’m sorry. From now on, the most precious thing in my life is being with my mother. And I will do everything to hold on to that precious gift.