In today’s times when we are surrounded by so much negativity, here is a positive inspiring story which is a great reminder of how humanity still exists.
After her mother’s death, how her father and his second wife harassed her is heartbreaking. They asked her to move out of the house and when she refused, they abandoned her when she was just a child. No one to call her family, this young girl was about to give up on life when a stranger took her in and gave her a family that she never dreamt of.
While sharing her troubling childhood, this woman mentioned:
“My mother passed away in an accident when I was 9. Before I could deal with the shock of it, my father was arrested under the pretext of being the prime suspect for her death. My whole world was destroyed overnight.
My aunt and uncle became my legal custodians and for 5 years I lived with them. It was terrible — I had no friends, everyone would have their parents attending school functions but nobody would be there for me. I was all alone — I barely had a childhood.
When I turned 15, my dad was released from jail. I was just grateful that I could live with him again. So when he decided to remarry, I agreed because I wanted all of us to be happy again.”
But, then life took an ugly turn and her dream of being a happy family was shattered.
“But after marriage, my stepmom started telling my dad that I wasn’t ‘their responsibility’. My dad agreed and they asked me to move out. I didn’t want to go back to my aunt, so even though it was breaking my heart — I stood my ground. My dad even went to the extent of not giving me food, money and clothes — but I gave tuitions to sustain.
Even though we lived under the same roof, my father acted like I was dead to him. Soon his wife got pregnant, so she came up to me and said, ‘I don’t want even your shadow to fall on my child’ — my father and her left the house.”
In the times, when it looked all broken, she got a ray of hope in a stranger, who gave her the family that she always wished for.
“I was broken and had no strength to continue. But, that’s when one of the mothers of the kids I was tutoring, who knew what was happening in my life, asked me to move in with her. She wanted someone to take care of her kids full time. It was the only ray of hope I had.
So I moved in with her, and she took care of me like I was her own child. She gave me food, clothes and everything I needed. We’d go out like a family, eat together like a family — something I’d never done. She even paid my fees to study law. I finally understood what having a family felt like, because of a stranger.
Soon after my graduation, I managed to secure a job and felt like I had found stability in life…after so many years. Living with this lady and her family helped me move on from my past, and understand that there is hope for everybody.
Recently I got married, and my ‘adoptive mom’ even did my Kanya Daan and gifted me gold! I realised what happiness was, when I saw her performing all the rituals a parent would, at my wedding!Sometimes we undervalue the simple things in life…we don’t understand how important it is for us to cherish them — for me, that thing was, family. I’ve barely had a mother, or a father — I’ve spent half my life desperately wanting a parent’s love, and not getting it. But I have it now, I found a mother not by blood — but just by pure love. And it’s something I’m going to be grateful for, for the rest of my life. Because I know now, not to take for granted…the things that life gives us easily.”
At IFORHER, we are in awe of this inspiring woman who gave a new life to a stranger. It’s true that amazing things happen when women support other women.
In today’s dark times, we hope our society would seek inspiration from this woman to come forward and save people in need. We may not be related to each other through blood, but humanity ties us together!
