My mom had gotten pretty frail, and even though we’d never been super close, I cared about her and eventually invited her to come live with me. Years passed before she agreed — oddly enough, that was right after her neighbor Jeremy died. She had despised that man for as long as I could remember — she wouldn’t even let me wave to him as a kid. I asked her why a few times, but she always shut it down.
But as a kid, I still managed to talk to Jeremy here and there, and once, he even gave me this little toy teddy bear I named Mr. Peebles. When my mom found out, she ordered me to throw it out. I couldn’t bring myself to do it, so I hid him in my closet. Now, years later, I dug up Mr. Peebles, and the memories just hit me. I wanted justice; I wanted to know why Mom hated Jeremy, a good neighbor, so much.
While my mom was packing, I snuck over to Jeremy’s now-empty house. Inside, on a dusty old table, there was a box labeled “For Lisa.” My jaw dropped — that’s my name. I opened it, and there was a photo of a young Jeremy… with my mom. Then I found a stack of letters and a diary. Without thinking, I sat down and started reading.
When Lisa returned to her childhood home to bring her ailing mother, Susan, back with her, one mystery lingered: why did Susan despise their late neighbor, Jeremy?
Lisa’s curiosity grew when she discovered a box in Jeremy’s abandoned house labeled “For Lisa.” Inside were photographs and letters revealing Jeremy was her biological father, who had abandoned her and Susan out of fear. Susan’s hatred stemmed from betrayal, not malice.
Armed with the truth, Lisa helped her mother leave their past behind. Though painful, the revelation offered Lisa a chance to heal and make peace with the life she never fully understood.
