I was often looked down upon by people because I had a huge birthmark on my face. When Dave, a young man from New Jersey, walked into my home, it all changed.
“Can I please have some salt? I forgot to buy some,” Standing on my doorstep, a smiling man approached me and asked me questions.
I silently went into the kitchen to pour him salt. But when I returned, he was still inside the house. “You have a lovely and warm home,” He looked around and said that he was sorry.
I was furious. “Did I invite you to my house? I’m guessing not! So take the salt and leave!”
The man was stunned. “Sorry, but I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that…”
“I don’t care what you meant and what you didn’t!” I looked at him. “Get out!”
The man grabbed the jar of salt and hurried away.
You may think I was being rude to him. But don’t judge me just like that. I loved my neighbors until one day when one of them took all my possessions.
My grandfather was the owner of the house where I now reside. His daughter, illegitimate, suddenly appeared when he died. She was a clever woman who returned to the house with evidence that claimed she owned some of the property.
It would have been fine for her to live there, but she sold the property to an unidentified male who lived in our area. The new owner created a separate entrance and fenced some of the rooms.
All this fuss caused my grandma to leave the world earlier than I thought. To put it in another way, she couldn’t bear the sight of her husband’s last sign being obliterated in this manner.
It all happened when I was 15. I have never allowed a neighbor to enter my home since that time. It’s not like all of my neighbors were as bad as that man, but I couldn’t help myself. I had just lost my grandmother, the woman I loved the most.
Meanwhile, my dad wasn’t a nice man. Because my mother had given birth, my father threw my mom out of the house. He was a man who was not nice. Luckily for my mom, she met a man later who loved her, but when it came to me, he said he didn’t want to live with me.
“That birthmark really makes her look awful!” I heard my stepfather tell me my mother. “She scares all the neighbors with that face.”
“But she’s my daughter, Mark!” My mom replied. “I can’t leave her!”
“Then you’ll have to leave me, Linda!” My stepfather answered.
I didn’t want my mom to suffer because of me, so I moved to another city. Because of the scarlet mark on my right side, I stayed inside a lot. Mom visited me occasionally, but this stopped after a while.
Paul was the man I met when I entered college. He was the only person I’d ever met who didn’t look down on me because of my appearance. Maybe that’s why it didn’t take long for me to develop feelings for him and eventually fall in love with him.
We even had a child together, but when Paul’s mother learned about it, she was furious. “My son is not that child’s father!” I was furious and she slapped me. “I won’t let my son ruin his life with you! He deserves a beautiful girl. Not someone like you!”
I was devastated. “But Paul loves me, Mrs. Miles, and he has promised we would look after the baby together!”
“NO WAY!” Mrs. Miles screamed. “I will make sure that doesn’t happen!”
Sadly, it happened as Mrs. Miles had promised. Paul never called me again after that day. There were no texts or phone calls. I found out that his family had moved away when I went to visit him.
I could have returned to my mom and stepfather, but I knew I wouldn’t be loved there either. So I stayed in the city until I finished my degree and then moved back to my grandparents’ house. Plus, the city constantly reminded me of Paul, so leaving the city seemed like a good idea.
Bob, my son, was 5 years when we moved into my grandparents’ place. By this time, the old neighbor had passed away. However, another man named Dave had moved in. He was the old neighbor’s nephew.
I didn’t like him spending time with Dave. Bob loved Dave because he missed his father. I knew this. My grandma died because of his family.
I asked the man to stay away from my son, but he said he enjoyed Bob’s company. “Don’t worry. I will keep an eye on him. I also watched after my younger brothers, so I’m an expert,” he said giggling.
I didn’t want to trust the man, so I kept Bob from leaving the house. But Bob became angry with me, and I couldn’t see him like that. So the next day, when he was sitting with a dull face, I let him go and play with Dave. Bob called him Uncle Dave.
But that day, I went with Bob to play with Dave. During this process, I overheard them conversing, and it made me realize how wrong I was to judge the man.
“I miss my dad a lot, but I don’t tell mom because I feel she’ll get upset,” Bob shared his thoughts with Dave.
“Well, your mom is beautiful, Bob. And any man who meets her will be the luckiest. But I believe she’s self-sufficient and doesn’t see the need in having a man!” Dave explained.
“But Tod, my friend, and I quarreled. He said that my mother had a wart on her face, like a witch,” Bob said thoughtfully.
Dave started laughing. “Tod is just mean, Bob. You shouldn’t make such friends. You know, I wanted to sell the part of the house that I received as an inheritance from my relatives, but after I saw your mom, I decided not to do so!”
I blushed at Dave’s response. Then as soon as I noticed them getting up and walking towards the house, I pretended like I had come to call Bob for dinner. “Let’s go, Bob. It’s too late now. We need to have dinner.”
Bob ran over to me and hugged my hand. “Can Uncle Dave join us for dinner?”
Bob smiled at me. “Of course, he can!”
Bob fell asleep at the table, and Dave carefully carried him to bed. “So, would you like to have some tea before you leave?” I asked Dave after he returned to Bob’s room.
Dave came over and kissed my cheek. “Yes, sure!”
I was still frozen for a while. “Well, Dave. I don’t… I mean…”
Dave took a leap forward and held onto my hand. “I’ve seen you suffer, Helen. Don’t be so harsh on yourself. I can’t promise that I’ll be the best person in your life, but I’ll do everything I can to make you and Bob happy. I love you.”
I burst into tears. “I don’t know what to say, Dave. Throughout my life, people looked down upon me because of how bad I looked. They called me derogatory names. Even Bob’s father abandoned me because his mother despised my appearance! I find it hard to believe that someone can love me!”
Dave hugged me tightly. “I don’t care about others, Helen. I love you, and you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met! I want to marry you.”
I could not control my emotions. “It might take some time for me, Dave,” I said as I hugged him. “But I’ll try my best to be a good wife to you!”
Dave and I got married a few more months later. A year later, we had a lovely little girl.
What lessons can we draw from this story?
- Beauty is more than physical appearance. This is evident in the way Dave loved Helen.
- Every person in our lives has a purpose.Helen and Dave were meant to be together.
This story is worth sharing with friends. This story might bring joy to their lives and encourage them.
This story is about a woman who lost her husband after 35 years of marriage.
This story was inspired by the reader’s story, but it is written by a professional writer. All names have been changed in order to protect identities and maintain privacy. Tell us your story, it might just change someone’s life.