My mom could hardly contain her excitement when she heard the news. She sat at my bedside, her face glowing, clutching her phone like a shopping list of eligible bachelors. Her finger danced over the screen as if picking out the perfect man for her daughter. Across the room, I glanced at a message my aunt had sent her and it made me feel as if I’d been living in a glass cage all along.
“Your daughter’s too wonderful to waste her time. If that man really loved her, there’d be no reason to wait so many years. Those who truly love each other don’t take this long. What kind of love has no progress?” Her words were straightforward, almost clinical. But she was right and it cut deep.
She went on, “She just needs to choose someone decent and we’ll make sure the wedding is set up right away. No rush, but there’s no need to wait.”
Everyone around me seemed to understand what was wrong, everyone but me. I had been the only one clinging to the invisible promises he fed me, year after year.
I took a breath, turning back to my mom. “Mom, I trust your judgment. Just keep it simple. I don’t want anything over the top.”