Much to my regret, I had just put my mother in an elderly home. She needed 24 hour care with her deteriorating mental health and as I worked long shift hours; I could not risk leaving her all alone.
I decided one evening after work to go up in the attic and clear out some of her things. She never liked throwing things away, and the mess there was shocking. While going through the stuff, my eyes caught sight of an old wooden box. I dragged it beside me and opened the dusty lid. It contained three small books and when I opened one of them I realized that they were my grandmother’s diaries!
I could not believe what I was reading! My grandmother had had a secret love affair back in 1922 with her local parish priest. Oh my God! What was she thinking ? – I thought to myself. I always knew that my grandmother had been a single parent and that she was brave enough to bring up her daughter all alone in a difficult time, but could this priest be my grandfather?
She really seemed to have been in love…” I know I am living in sin, but he is my only true love. His handsome good looks and his amazing charm, makes me dream…his angelic face with his devilish grin makes me go weak in the knees…..I want to drown in his blue eyes every single day….and if I have to sin to make this happen …..than so be it!”
What an amazing and shocking discovery! Now I had a dilemma ahead of me. I wanted to investigate this further and discover if this priest was indeed my grandfather, however how could I do this without hurting anyone? – the priest’s integrity for example! And how could I ever tell my mother, that her birth might have been the result of a forbidden love affair; without driving her further into insanity?
After much thought, my decision was a hard one. I threw the diaries in the lit fire of my fireplace…this had to remain a secret, whatever had happened in the past can never be changed so why dwell on it? And my grandmother’s soul can now rest in peace!
Written by Jacqueline Sammut
(fiction story)
No comments:
Post a Comment