Andrew raised his son Mark alone after he was told his wife died in a car accident ten years prior. He was surprised to one day hear his son say that he found his mother.
Mark and Andrew lived together in poverty. Andrew struggled to find a stable job after losing his wife, Diana, and they had to live within their means. As Mark got older, he began to question where his mother was. One day, his dad finally told him the truth.
“Your mom disappeared ten years ago after she got into a car accident when you were only three years old. She was out of town on a business trip, and she never made it back. I’ve been looking for her for years, but I never found her. I’m sorry, son,” Andrew explained.
Mark had many questions about his mom. He would ask about their love story, what she was like, and what her favorite things were. Andrew shared that Mark’s mom was incredibly beautiful.
“My friends used to envy me because I was with the most beautiful girl in the room. Your mom was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met,” he smiled as he patted his son’s head.
“Dad, I’ve also been looking for mom, but I haven’t found anything on her. We will find her. Let’s promise each other that we’ll do everything we can to find her,” Mark said. Andrew nodded, trying to fight back his tears.
One day, Mark was at his friend’s house for dinner when he told them the story of his mom. Since then, his friends were determined to help him find her. They would be on the internet for hours, trying to find traces of her.
They’ve been searching for over a week when suddenly, Mark’s friend screamed, “Oh my god!” They all rushed to the computer screen and saw a photo of a woman who looked exactly like Mark’s mom. However, she had a different name.
“Let’s write her a message!” Mark said eagerly. He sat on the computer chair and started typing:
“Hello, Mrs. Mount!
My name is Mark. This is going to sound so strange, but my mom disappeared ten years ago, and you look so much like her. Please, tell me, could this picture be you? This is one of the few pictures I have of my mom,” he wrote before attaching a photo of their family when he was only three years old.
As it was already nighttime, Mark assumed she would not reply until the next day, so he went home. When he got there, he ran to his room and said, “Dad! You’re not going to believe this! I found mom!”
At that moment, Andrew’s heart sank. He pondered whether keeping the truth from Mark for such a long time was the right thing to do. Seeing how hopeful Mark was as he entered the room, he decided to spare him from more pain by telling him the truth about what happened to Diana.
“I have something to admit, Mark. Since you’re a teenager now, I can probably already tell you the truth,” he started, asking his son to sit down beside him.
“You see, your mom did not disappear after a business trip ten years ago. She died in a car accident in a neighboring town while she was visiting her friend. She suffered traumatic injuries and did not make it. The doctor gave me her belongings and said there was no point in a DNA test because her things were right there in the scene,” he explained.
Andrew then pointed to the urn in his room. “Your mother’s ashes are in there,” he said.
Mark was in tears. He could not understand how his mother could be dead when he saw someone on the internet who looked exactly like her. He also could not understand why his dad decided to sugarcoat the truth for years by telling him his mother had disappeared.
Feeling hurt and betrayed, he ran to his room quickly and locked himself there. He didn’t go out the entire night until he heard the doorbell ring the following day. His father was already at work, so he was the one who opened the door.
“Hi,” a woman said, taking her sunglasses off. Mark’s eyes widened when he realized it was the woman he had messaged on social media. “Can we speak inside my car?” she asked.
Mark couldn’t help but stare at the woman, as she shared the same facial features as his mom in the photos. How could it not be her? he thought to himself. However, he remembered what his dad told him the night before and decided to tell the woman the truth by following her to the car.
When they were there, Mark felt the need to explain. “I’m sorry for bothering you, and that you had to drive all the way here. I really thought you were my mom. You look exactly like her… but last night, my dad told me that my mom died in a car accident ten years ago. He said the doctor confirmed it,” he said sadly, clutching onto a locket.
“This is the only thing I have from my mom. She gave this to me when I was a baby,” he said, showing the woman. Feeling sad again, he left the car and went back inside his house.
Mark thought that was the end of his search for his mom. He decided to slowly accept the fact that his mom had died, and instead focus on trying to do well in school for her and for his father.
However, he was surprised when the woman came back the next day. As soon as he opened the door, the woman embraced him tightly. “My dear son,” she said, almost in tears.
“That locket. You forgot it in my car yesterday. I recognized it. I thought it was something I had only seen in my dreams, but the memory is so vivid now,” she explained. At that moment, Mark didn’t know what to think. He called his father and told him to come home immediately.
When he got there, he was stunned to see the woman who looked exactly like his wife but older. They welcomed her inside their small home, where she explained what had happened to her as they sat in the living room.
“I was in a car accident ten years ago, and it left me unconscious. When I finally woke up, my memory was wiped out. The doctor told me that he was my husband and that I had gotten into a car accident on the way home and I lost my memory,” she explained.
Andrew couldn’t help but feel angry that the doctor betrayed not just him, but Diana as well. “After being with him for years, I started to feel uncomfortable. He could not answer questions about life before my accident, and if he did, they were very vague. It was as if he did not want me to know about myself,” she said, wiping her tears.
“Then I decided to go to a doctor that promised to help me regain my memory. I’ve started to remember bits and pieces, and one thing that I always see in my mind is the locket that Mark has,” she said, taking it out of her bag.
To verify their hunch that the woman was actually Andrew’s wife, they decided to get a DNA test. When it was confirmed that she was indeed the same person, they went to the police.
The doctor was arrested and put to jail. He was also stripped of his license and asked to pay a hefty sum for the damages he caused. After some time, Andrew, Mark, and Diana moved to a new town where they slowly rebuilt their lives together as a family.