hi my name is sarah and my mom is my
best friend
she's amazing she's a doctor and she's
raising me all by herself
she gives me everything i could want and
need i want to be just like her when i
grow up do you look up to your mom too
please don't forget to click the like
and subscribe buttons thanks i couldn't
wait for school to end it was my
birthday the next day
and mom said that i was going to get the
newest apple watch after her shift at
the hospital a few blocks away from the
mall when her phone rang
dr johnson a panicky voice from the car
speaker said jill is giving birth right
now we're not going to make it to the
hospital
mom quickly turned a corner she told the
man that she was on her way
sorry honey she said to me it's a good
thing that we're close to their house
we can go shopping after i quickly
nodded my mom made another call and
instructed the hospital to send an
ambulance right away
mom stopped the car and jumped out i
followed her into the house
a very pregnant woman was kneeling
beside the couch and there was a puddle
of water under her legs
mom ran over to the woman and asked her
husband for some clean towels
it's all right jill she said i'm here
and it's time for you to push
i watched in awe by the door the woman
was crying and pushing and screaming
her husband was sweating and running
around with a ton of towels it was chaos
my mom was the only calm person in the
room suddenly
i heard another sound break through the
screams and pants it was the sound of a
crying baby
she's here mom announced your daughter
has arrived
jill gasped when my mom handed her the
baby my jaw
dropped when i realized that i'd just
seen one being born
it was scary and incredible at the same
time the ambulance arrived a few minutes
later
and my mom gently patted jill's hand
everything's fine
she added with a gentle smile i'll check
in on you at the hospital
we headed back to our own car mom said
that we'd have to go home first so she
could change
are you all right honey she asked me you
look pale
i guess i did i was still in shock
you were amazing mom i replied in
wonderment
you didn't freak out at all that woman
looked like she was in so much pain
but the moment you handed her the baby
it seemed like she forgot about
everything else
my mom squeezed my hand that's how i
felt when i gave birth to you
she said it's joy and pain all at once
and it's all worth it especially if your
child ends up being a wonderful daughter
like you
she added that around 250 babies are
born every minute
wow that means that there are 250
soon-to-be mothers going into labor
right now
i gasped no wonder my mom was doing so
well as an obstetrician
she delivered a new baby every few days
mom headed for the shower as soon as we
got home
while i waited for her the phone rang it
was my dad you're not going to believe
what i saw today
i said and i told him about watching my
mom do her work
dad laughed and proudly proclaimed that
my mom was amazing
when your brother josh was born emma was
screaming and miserable too
until she held him in his arms when can
you come and visit anyway
he misses you already i promised that i
would visit my dad and his new family
soon
i loved playing with my half-brother
josh he was so cute
my dad's wife emma wasn't so bad but it
still bugged me that my parents had
never married
emma wasn't half as amazing as my mom
after a few weeks
mom came home looking very excited i got
promoted
she said i'm going to be head of the
department i was so happy
for her and when i found out she wasn't
going to be working as much
i was so happy for me too it meant that
we could spend more time together
it was great we had picnics and played
frisbee in the front yard
i was standing by the porch when the
frisbee came whizzing my way
i jumped but i must have landed wrong
the next thing i knew
there was blood flowing down my forehead
sarah
mom cried as she ran towards me i think
i hit my head on the edge of the step
i complained it really hurts mom cleaned
up my wound
she said it wasn't deep and i just
needed to apply pressure to it
she made me some of my favorite mac and
cheese and sent me to bed early
that night i remember thinking that i
was the luckiest girl in the world
for having such an amazing mother but
sadly
our fun times ended that day the next
few months were busy time at the
hospital
mom was really home she left early and
came home late
i started to complain about never seeing
her anymore she still keeps giving me
gifts
but i didn't want a new instax camera or
another new phone i just wanted her
i couldn't talk to her anymore because
she never had time for me when i turned
14
things got even worse mom couldn't be
with me on my birthday
i had to stay with my dad for a few days
while mom was at a conference
i could see that emma was trying to be
nice but i didn't want her
i wanted my mom i made your favorite mac
and cheese
she proudly said i took a bite but i
spit it out immediately
ew i cried this is gross it's not like
mom's mac and cheese at
all dad got mad when i said that i gave
him the side eye while he and ella
played with little josh
if he hadn't married that awful emma he
would have married my mom
and maybe she wouldn't have to work so
hard all the time i was counting down
the hours until mom arrived to pick me
up
then the phone rang it was mom but she
said she was running late
i got so mad at her for making me wait
again when i get home
she said we'll go on a vacation just the
two of us okay
i promise you're gonna have a great time
but i was sick of her promises i don't
believe you anymore i scream back at her
i don't care if you don't ever come home
when you're here you don't even notice
me
i wish you were my mother i slammed the
phone down and ran to my room
i was so mad at everyone dad tried to
talk to me but i didn't open the door
finally he left after an hour he was
back again
sarah he cried with a voice i never
heard him use before
we have to go to the hospital i couldn't
believe my ears when he explained that
mom
was in the hospital she had gotten into
a car crash just an hour ago
but i just talked to her i cried i was
so scared the whole time in the car
it was terrified for my mom and deep
down i knew it was my fault
mom probably got so upset after i
screamed at her that was the reason she
got into a crash
i wanted to tell her that i didn't mean
what i said i wanted to tell her that i
loved her so much
they wouldn't even let me see her when
we got to the hospital one doctor came
out and talked to us instead
i'm sorry he said she's in a bad way
we're doing everything we can but i
don't think it's going to be enough
you have to prepare yourself for the
worst i turned to my dad
what did he mean by that i guessed dad
couldn't even look me in the eye
he quietly told me to pray for mom i
couldn't take it anymore
i knew my mom was suffering and it was
all my fault
i couldn't stop the tears i stumbled
away and ran as fast as my lights could
take me to the exit
outside i found myself by bus stop and i
got on the first bus that passed
not caring where it took me as long as
it was far away
from here hours passed into days i can't
remember how i got where i was
the only real thing i felt was the hard
bench i slept on
and the gaping hole in my chest where my
heart used to be
i was to blame for everything
it hurt so much to remember the last
thing i said to her how could i be such
a terrible person
after everything my mom had done for me
i was just sitting
and staring into space when i heard the
scream right in front of me
sprawled on the curb was an older girl
with a bleeding forehead
i jumped up and ran over to her hold
still i said soothingly
let me check if it's deep thankfully the
wound was shallow
i took off my jacket and told the girl
to apply pressure on it
then i asked if there was a place where
we could wash it i sleep in the women's
shelter
she gasped as i helped her up it's just
a few blocks away
the shelter was a dirty place and it was
very crowded
but at least there was running water and
soap in the bathroom after a while the
girl calmed down
thanks she said i was so scared i
thought i'd split my skull open
for the first time in a long time i
smiled it felt nice to help someone
do you have a place to stay she asked my
name is maggie
you can stay in the shelter with me if
you want maggie and i became friends
she brought me to a soup kitchen where
we ate a hot meal she led me to church
basement so i could find a jacket
maggie was nice and for a while i forgot
that i was homeless
and alone but no matter what i did i
could never forget the last words i ever
spoke to my mom
i told maggie that i ran away but i
didn't tell her why
life went on that way for a long time it
was hard to accept my new
life but i had no other choice the
shelter was always full of girls who had
run away
or who were in trouble there was a young
mom named stella
who had a little boy she said that she
used to have a small apartment
and that she worked three jobs just to
pay for rent and food but
it wasn't enough she lost her home and
now
she was struggling to feed her little
boy but no matter where we end up
stella told me as long as my baby jasper
is with me
we'll be fine i couldn't help but think
about my mom when i looked at her
mom worked so hard just to give me a
good life but i could see now that i was
ungrateful spoiled and mean if i'd been
a better daughter
i would still be with her a few months
later i noticed that maggie had started
throwing up a lot
at first i thought she had food
poisoning it's not the food
maggie said i think i'm pregnant i was
shocked
maggie was just a few years older than
me how is she going to have a baby in
this situation
poor maggie was miserable the whole time
she was too tired and too weak to do
anything
all she did was sleep while her belly
grew bigger i did everything i could
just to make life easier for her
but maggie was having a really hard time
with her pregnancy
thankfully the shelter allowed her to
stay they told me that i could stay for
as long as i liked to
but that was because i was the only one
who could tie a bandage
or examine the injuries of girls who
just arrived we became a family
but i never really belonged there
monsters like me
don't deserve to belong anywhere another
few months went by
then one night maggie woke up everyone
with her screams it hurt so bad
she yelled the other girl shrank back in
fear but i couldn't
maggie was my friend i held her hand
while she screamed in pain
then her water broke i think the baby is
coming now
she gasped i was terrified but i was the
only one who could help her i asked the
girls to find clean towels
as i looked at maggie's anguished face i
remember the other woman
jill my mom delivered her baby in the
living room it's all right maggie
i said i'm here and it's time for you to
push
she did over and over again in a matter
of minutes
the baby came i wrapped the baby in a
clean towel and handed it to her
like jill she forgot that she had just
been screaming a few seconds ago
she forgot that she was in a shelter she
forgot that she was broke
all that mattered was that little baby
in her arms
i couldn't believe what i just done and
i couldn't believe the transformation on
maggie's face
i was so relieved when someone said that
the ambulance was here
maggie kept insisting that i go to the
hospital with her then the doctors
checked her and the baby out
after a few moments the doctor came to
talk to me maggie said that you
delivered her baby
she said how old are you i told her i
was only 16.
to be honest i was so scared i added it
happened
so quickly but now i'm just exhausted
the doctor laughed and told me that i
did a good job i felt really proud
then i wondered if my mom would have
been proud of me too
if she knew maggie went back to the
shelter a few days later
she kept thanking me and she said she'd
name the baby after me
she also went back to her parents house
it was different now that little sarah
was here
then she told me that a tv news crew had
interviewed her at the hospital
and that's how her parents had found her
i think that's how my dad found me too
he and emma arrived a few days later to
take me home my dad hugged me so tightly
i wanted to tell him about everything
that had happened
but no words came out i could only cry
emma wiped away my tears
it's time to go home now sarah she said
and i nodded
so we got back into the car and drove
home but after a few hours
i realized that we weren't going back to
their house we were on a long road
with big longs on both sides of the
street my breath caught in my throat
it looked like we were driving to the
cemetery i can't do this right now
i said and i began to panic my dad was
firm
it's time to face it dad said you've run
away long enough
i wanted to apologize to my mom but i
didn't think i was ready to see her
grave
everything's going to be fine emma added
don't worry dad parked the car and they
led me towards the building
i was confused why was there a building
in the middle of a cemetery
but it wasn't a cemetery after all we
walked down a series of corridors and
knocked on a door
it took some time for it to open but
when it did i gasped
mom was inside she was very thin but she
was alive i'm so sorry i gasped
and i ran to hug her you've gotten so
big
mom cried i was so worried about you
please don't blame yourself for the
accident
mom said while she stroked my cheek a
car crashed into mine while i was
driving home
i can't walk anymore but it's not your
fault sarah
suddenly mom made a fist and banged it
on the bed
oh i wish i could take care of you she
cried
but i can barely take care of myself i
took mom's hand
even in her state her main concern was
taking care of me
then everything i saw about mothers and
their children flashed through my mind
emma with josh stella with her son and
even maggie
with her new daughter i whispered with
fresh tears running down my face
it's time to go home together you looked
after me
better than any mom ever could and now
it's time for me to do the same
for you