Once Maria met Linda, she understood why Aiden loved her so much. Linda was humble and didn’t judge Maria even when she learned where she worked. When Aiden revealed that he and Linda had gotten engaged, Maria gave her blessing immediately.
Maria decided to throw an engagement party at a local restaurant to celebrate and meet Linda’s parents, Hugh and Elizabeth.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen, Maria. My parents are very stuck up, so when they learned about Aiden’s background, they didn’t give their blessing,” Linda revealed.
After some time, Hugh and Elizabeth reluctantly gave Aiden their blessing and agreed to pay for the wedding. The ceremony was quite extravagant. Linda wore a designer wedding dress that her grandmother had gifted her. The cake was giant, and Hugh had hired a famous chef to cater the wedding.
Maria finally had the opportunity to meet Hugh and Elizabeth, but they didn’t treat her kindly. When asked what degree she had, Maria replied, “I didn’t get the chance to finish my studies because Aiden’s dad left me to raise him alone.”
“Well, if we hadn’t worked hard, then we couldn’t have given Linda all of this,” Elizabeth replied rudely. Hugh and Elizabeth had VIP guests, including well-known businessmen from around the city. When asked who Maria was, they seemed embarrassed to reveal that she was the groom’s mother.
After the vows and I-dos were said, it was the turn of the groom and bride’s families to give speeches. Hugh and Elizabeth took the stage first to congratulate the newlyweds on their union. They then revealed their gift, which surprised Aiden and Linda because Hugh had already paid for the wedding.
“We’re really sorry. We’ve mistreated you since the moment we met you.”
“We know you are both house-hunting and will move in together soon. So we’re going to pay for all of your furniture and appliances,” Huge revealed.
“Once you’ve found a house, it will be fully furnished,” Elizabeth added. The gift was met with applause from the attendees. Hugh and Elizabeth looked on with pride at the reaction. Next to the stage was Maria. Many guests began to whisper and murmur as they all expected a gift that would be quite cheap in comparison.
Maria wiped away a tear of joy as she congratulated the newlyweds. She didn’t care about the judgment. Maria was just proud of her son and daughter-in-law. But what she said next shocked the entire wedding party.
“I worked all my life and saved up to pay for your college tuition because I knew it would be expensive. Then you decided you wanted to be a doctor, and I thought, wow, even more expensive,” Maria joked.
She could tell that Hugh and Elizabeth were laughing at her, not with her. Maria reached into her purse for an envelope before continuing.
“The funny thing is, you got a scholarship to study medicine anyway, so you didn’t even need all the money I saved. So now that you’re about to get your doctorate and you’re getting married to this brilliant young woman, what better way to congratulate you than by buying you a house,” Maria revealed.
The entire wedding party gasped in shock as Maria opened her envelope and handed a set of keys to Aiden and Linda. Everyone stood to applaud while Hugh and Elizabeth were left stunned. After the ceremony ended, Hugh and Elizabeth apologized to Maria.
“We’re really sorry. We’ve mistreated you since the moment we met you. We apologize for judging you. You’ve really shown us how remarkable you are,” Elizabeth told Maria.
“Just remember, some of us might come from nothing, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be something,” Maria replied.
By the end of the year, Aiden had finished his doctorate and joined Hugh’s practice to work as a doctor. Aiden insisted that Maria retire from working as a janitor. Hugh and Elizabeth followed suit soon afterward. Linda threw Maria a retirement party, and Aiden bought her a brand-new car to thank her for everything.
Soon, Aiden and Linda had children of their own. Maria lived as a grandparent for the children, a role she happily shared with Hugh and Elizabeth.
What can we learn from this story?
Don’t take negative judgment to heart. All that mattered to Maria was her son’s happiness and success. She didn’t let the judgment bring her down, and in the end, she proved all of her doubters wrong.
You never know what someone has been through. Hugh and Elizabeth had false perceptions of who Maria was based on the fact that she was a janitor. In the end, they realized that Maria was just as hard-working and deserving of respect as anyone else.
Elderly Woman Spots Her Late Mother’s Pendant at a Flea Market, Then Suddenly Hears, ‘I’ll Pay Twice the Asking Price’
An 80-year-old woman unexpectedly found her late mother’s treasured pendant in an antique store. She decided to buy it but was interrupted by a stranger offering to pay double its price. She burst into tears after recognizing who it was.
80-year-old Samantha was a regular shopper at the thrift store. She loved buying antique showpieces and furniture to adorn the little home she lived in alone.
One day, she went shopping, assuming it would be just an ordinary day at the flea market.
“I hope I find a nice shelf to go under Paul’s photo. The old one is broken,” she mumbled.
Paul was her late husband, who had died just a year after their wedding in 1963. Since then, Samantha refused to move on and chose to live with his memories, and his photo was one among her treasured items…
“Hello there, how can I help you, Mrs. Drake?” the vendor in the furniture store asked.
“Well, I want a nice shelf. Not a grand one, but something small with elegant cuts and durable wood.”
“Alright! Why don’t you sit down while I bring a few pieces?”
“Why would you want to buy my mom’s pendant?” Samantha asked the stranger who offered to pay double the price for it.
Samantha sat in the store, looking around. Moments later, the antique shop across the road opposite the furniture store drew her attention.
“I’ll be back in a bit. I’ll just go check out the store across for a candle stand,” she said.
“Alright, Mrs. Drake. I’ll be ready with the shelves by then.”
Shortly after Samantha entered the antique shop, she was startled by what she saw there.
“Oh my God! This can’t be it. Where did you get this?” she asked, her eyes gleaming with tears as she pointed to a classic red pendant on the mannequin.
“Hey, Mrs. Drake! Did you mean this one?” The seller brought down the beautiful chain with the pendant from the display.
“Yes, please…can I see it?”
“Sure, here you go… That’s $40, but I’ll give it to you for $5 less…” The vendor smiled.
Samantha flipped the pendant several times and could no longer hold back her tears.
“I found it…This belonged to my mother!” she exclaimed, tears endlessly streaming down her face. “From where did you get it?”
“I don’t know, but my dad told me that someone sold it to him several years ago… It had not gone on display because my dad kept it at home. After he died last year, I cleared the attic and found it there. So I put it up here for sale.”
Samantha could not believe her eyes. “I’m getting it!” she said, and just as she dug her bag for the money, she heard someone enter, followed by a loud voice:
“I’ll pay double its price…Please give it to me…I want it at any cost!”
Samantha was startled. She turned around, only to gasp in astonishment after seeing a woman who looked like her.
“Oh my God! I can’t believe this! Am I looking at myself in the mirror?” panted the other woman.
“Oh, dear! What’s happening? And how come you look exactly like me?” shrieked Samantha.
The two women stared at each other for quite some time, unable to fathom their uncanny resemblance.
“Wha—What’s your name? I’m Samantha…And you?”
“I’m Doris!”
“And why would you want to buy my mom’s pendant?”
“Your mom’s pendant?”
“Yes, this is my mom Dorothy’s pendant… We became very poor after my dad left my mom, so she sold everything we had to make ends meet, and this pendant was among the heirlooms she sold. She sold it to a man, but I don’t know how it reached here.”
“So that makes you my sister?!” Doris shrieked, hugging a confused Samantha, who could not understand what was happening.
“Sister??? What do you mean?” she exclaimed, pushing Doris back for an explanation.
“Let me show you,” replied Doris, who took out an old, torn photo of Dorothy wearing the pendant with a little girl on her lap.
“Jesus Christ! This is unbelievable! This is my mother, and this is me with her,” exclaimed Samantha.
“No, that’s not you…THAT’S ME! We’re twins!” replied Doris, stunning Samantha.
“What? How could that be? Oh my God…I never knew I had a sister!” cried Samantha.
As it turned out, Doris was indeed Samantha’s twin. Their parents, Dorothy and Michael, went through a rough patch in their marriage and divorced when Samantha and Doris were just a year old. They parted ways, each taking one child to raise independently.
Samantha was raised by Dorothy, while Doris was taken by her dad. They were separated right from childhood and never got a chance to see each other again.
“….And when my granny died 40 years ago, she revealed the secret when I asked her about the other half of this torn photo,” cried Doris.
“Dad had passed a year before her, so I could not confront him. He never left anything else of you that could help me track you. I lost my husband several years ago and have no children. I kept looking for you but in vain… I think it was God’s will for us to meet like this today, thanks to mom’s pendant!”
“I came here to buy a candle stand, and right now, I am baffled!” Samantha cried like a kid in Doris’s arms. “You can have the pendant! I had seen mom wear it, but you never got a chance to even be with her. It should belong to you now!”
Doris was touched and moved to tears. Samantha bought the pendant and placed it around Doris’s neck.
“You remind me of our mother! I’m glad to meet you. Let’s go home!” she said as an excited antique store owner saw the silhouette of Samantha and Doris exit his store, holding each other!
What can we learn from this story?
You may never know about the history an old piece of artifact might have. When Samantha saw the pendant in the antique store, she immediately recognized it as her late mother’s. She would soon learn that the pendant would reunite her with the twin sister she never knew.
Sometimes, children suffer fateful consequences from the decisions their parents make. After their divorce, Michael and Dorothy separated their twin daughters, each taking one. The sisters never knew about each other for several decades until they accidentally met at the antique store and recognized each other.
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