11/15/2025
On Christmas, my children locked me in my room āso I could rest.ā Later, I overheard my daughter-in-law say, āNo one wants to deal with her drama.ā Everyone laughed. The next day, I vanishedāand when they found out what Iād done, it was far too late.
The brass key felt icy between my fingers as I twisted it in the lock of the guest room door. Christmas morning, and I was a prisoner in my own sonās house. From downstairs came the sound of laughter, clinking glasses, the smell of honey-glazed ham. A family gathering, but I was locked away like an embarrassing secret.
I pressed my ear against the thin wall, my sixty-seven-year-old knees aching. I needed to hear what they really thought of me.
āMomās finally quiet,ā Nicholasās voice floated up, tinged with annoyance. āMaybe we can actually enjoy Christmas for once.ā
Laughter followed ā my daughter-in-law Melineās sharp, cruel giggle. āThank God. I was about to lose it if she complained about the stuffing one more time. Like, we get it, Oprah, your motherās recipe was better. But sheās been dead for twenty years. Weāre not running a museum here.ā
My chest tightened, but the worst was yet to come. My grandchildren ā Michael, seventeen, and Sarah, fifteen ā laughed too. The same children who once begged for my stories now mocked me with the rest of them.
Something inside me didnāt break. It cracked. Slowly, dangerously.
I sat on the edge of the bed, fingers tracing the stitches of the quilt Iād sewn thirty years ago. In the dresser was my purse: $847 in cash, an old photo of Nicholas at seven, gap-toothed and proud. That boy had loved me once.
I pulled a piece of Melineās stationery from the nightstand and began to write. Thank you for making this Christmas so memorable. Iāve decided to give you the gift you really want: my absence.
When the note was done, I set it on the pillow, lifted my suitcase, and opened the window. Cold December air rushed in, sharp with freedom. Below me, the trellis waited.
At sixty-seven years old, I climbed out of my sonās house like a runaway teenager ā and I wasnāt sorry.
Full story in the t0p c0mment šš