I sat at the table, staring at the empty wallet. < img src = "https://zycie.news/crrops/15ba29/620x0/1/0/2025/03/12/dwzzzp9kvgdkpxjgn0hnr9jbt8bvsa8ed9b6exya0.jpg" alt = "wedding @pexels" styles = "background-color: rgba (107,111,100,1)" > < p > I gave everything.

< p > last savings, which I put away for years & ndash; for a rainy day, for medicine, for the spok; j in the future.

< p > but that day I didn't think about myself.

< p > It was my son's wedding.

< p > and I wanted him to have everything he wanted.

< p > envelope with money lay on a white tablecloth.

< p > — This is for you, honey — I said with a smile, giving it a young couple.

< p > Son looked at her indifferently.

< p > his wife did not even look up.

< p > opened the envelope.

< p > I saw his face tension.

< p > looked at me cold.

< p > — Mom & Hellip; it's probably a joke ?

< p > my heart stood.

< p > — What do you mean ?

< p > — That's all ? — His voice was full of disappointment.

< p > — I gave you how much I could & Hellip; & Amp; MDASH; I whispered.

< p > daughter -in -law sighed and overhang with her eyes.

< p > — Well, & Hellip; Others gave a lot more, but I understand that not everyone can stand — she said icy.

< p > I felt my hands tremble.

< p > were my last money really for them too small ?

< p > Did they really look at me only through the prism of envelopes ?

< p > I did everything all my life to make my son better.

< p > I worked after hours.

< p > I gave up my own pleasures that he lacked nothing.

< p > and now & hellip;

~ 60 > Now I was only a mother who gave too little.

< p > I don't remember what I answered.

< p > I don't remember how I left the room.

< p > I only remember one thing.

< p > I understood the first time in my life that for my own child I was nothing more than the sum of money in the envelope.

Natasha Kumar

By Natasha Kumar

Natasha Kumar has been a reporter on the news desk since 2018. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining The Times Hub, Natasha Kumar worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my natasha@thetimeshub.in 1-800-268-7116