My Moms Flower Tattoo Made A Nurse Call Security

They are your family.

Nothing about learning where you came from should take away from the people who stood beside you while you grew.

Maybe it simply means you were lucky enough to be loved twice.

I wish I could have watched you grow.

I wish I could have been there for all the ordinary days and all the important ones.

And I wish I could have told you this myself, with your hand in mine.

With all the love a mother can give,

Your first mom,

Alicia

Alicia.

That was my biological mother’s name.

I whispered it silently.

A woman I couldn’t remember had loved me enough to leave words behind in case she couldn’t stay.

I read the letter again.

Then again.

By the third time, tears were running silently down my face.

I looked up at Helen.

My mother.

She was watching me carefully, giving me space.