Forgiveness

Surrounded by her family and friends, Lily clung to her mother. Finally, her husband pulled her away.

“Lily, it’s time to let go so they can lower the casket.” Austin quietly whispered.

Lily reluctantly released her grip and grabbed hold of him. Her face was pale and her eyes swollen red. She was a shell of the spunky middle-aged woman everyone knew. The past few months had aged her considerably.

As a cancer survivor, Lily wasn’t able to have children. This scare only strengthened their marriage and Lily and Austin became a jet-set couple. Without any responsibilities to keep them home-bound, Lily and Austin traveled on a moments notice and behaved younger than any of their child rearing friends.

This all changed when Lily's mother, suffering from heart failure and dementia, moved in with them. In an instant, Lily became her mother’s primary caregiver. Unfamiliar to the time required and challenges of caring for another, Lily slowly began to resent the circumstances her life now held.

Lily could cope with the physical challenges, but the emotional struggles became unbearable. Many nights after crying herself to sleep, she would awaken to her mother’s screams. Her mother, now unable to recognize her own daughter, lived in a constant state of hallucinations and became a stranger. As each day passed, Lily's temper became shorter and her patience grew thin as she fought to calm her mother and return to her slumber. This daily ritual was Lily's life for eight long months until her mother’s heart finally gave out two nights ago, on a cold November moon.

Today as everyone said goodbye to her mother, Lily didn’t have to. She had grieved her mother’s loss months ago. Instead, she relived the last few months and laid on her mother’s casket to ask for forgiveness.

Word count: 300