Having been diagnosed with osteoporosis at 81, I found it difficult to move without help. Citing their hectic schedules and inability to provide continual care, my son Tyler and his wife Macy decided to put me in a nursing home. They insisted even though I begged to remain in the house my late husband built, and I was in strange surroundings. Driven to keep a relationship, I started daily letter writing to Tyler for elderly mothers, trying to keep close despite the distance.

Determined to stay in touch, I daily wrote letters to Tyler from elderly mothers expressing my want to see him and asking about their life. Days stretched into months, and not one response arrived. The quiet was intolerable, and I started to lose hope.

Two years passed devoid of words. One day then, a nurse told me a man in his forties was looking for me. Hope shot inside me, maybe Tyler had arrived at last. As I got closer, though, I saw Ron, a family friend I hadn’t seen in years.

“Mom!”— Ron cried out, hugging me gently.

RON? Here for what? Confusion mixing with surprise, I asked.

Ron said he had come back from Europe and dropped by my house only to discover it deserted. Concerned, he went through the mailbox and found all of my unread letters from elderly mother. He said, heartbroken, that Tyler and Macy had perished in a house fire the year before.

The news was quite devastating. Even though their past behavior hurt, they were my family. As I grieved the death of my son and daughter-in-law, tears streamed.

Always the sympathetic friend, Ron volunteered to drive me home. With thanks in his voice, “You raised me; I wouldn’t be where I am today without you.”

Overwhelmed, I turned down his offer, then Ron welcomed me into his loving family. I felt comfort and a fresh sense of belonging in the cohesiveness of their house. Though the suffering of the past persisted, a friend’s compassion offered a road toward recovery.

This encounter made me realize that letters from elderly mothers contain the emotions, hopes, and lifetime stories more than just words. Although the death of Tyler and Macy had a lasting effect, in my twilight years the unanticipated relationship with Ron became a source of solace and fortitude.