No one remembered her when she was little, but once she started earning money, her parents suddenly reappeared.
Throughout her childhood, her parents spent their time wondering where to place her. She had come into their lives at the worst possible timethey hadnt wanted her. At first, her grandmother helped care for her, but after suffering a stroke, there was no one left to raise the little girl. Their modest pension and wages werent enough to look after an ill person, let alone a child. After a few months, they made the decision to temporarily send Alice to an orphanage.
“Youll stay here for a while, while your father and I earn some money,” her mother told her.
Alice truly believed them and waited, because life in the orphanage was no fairy tale. There was no private room, no tenderness or careit was almost like a prison. She couldnt befriend the other children, the teachers barely noticed her, and to survive, Alice buried herself in books that occasionally arrived from charity organisations.
The girl always did well in school, and when she was accepted into university, she was thrilled to move to another city. She had very little money to start with, but she found part-time work and saved up to launch her own business. Many people laughed when she opened a small online shop selling homemade candles.
“What kind of job is that? Youll never make real money,” they said.
But the little business grew. She was one of the first in the market doing this, and customers kept coming. A young man helped with deliveries, and eventually, he left his job to make candles with her. Slowly, their venture expanded into a family business.
The orphanage staff heard about Alice when she became the face of the shop, and soon, so did her parents. Under the pretence of placing an order, they contacted their daughter. After receiving their package, they traced the address back to Alices home.
She wasnt happy to see them. They had forgotten her, and she had forgotten them. Perhaps it was unkind, but she showed them the doorher husband backing her up.
They hadnt wanted to raise her, hadnt even checked on herand now, suddenly, they pretended to love her. It was too late. They should have looked for her sooner, should have brought her home. Now Alice was grown, a mother herself, and she didnt need parents like that.
Some wounds never truly heal, but strength comes from knowing when to walk away.
