A man is so preoccupied with work that he doesn’t visit his mother for 11 years. When he finally finds time to see her, he arrives at an empty house and hears male voices in the cellar.

Robert was only three years old when his father left him. His mother, Sheila, raised him alone and worked two jobs to provide him with good education and a happy childhood.

When Robert graduated from high school, Sheila poured all her savings into a good university, where Robert majored in business studies. He became a rich businessman years later.

Sadly for Sheila, after establishing his firm, Robert relocated to a different state and rarely visited her. In the beginning, he would visit her almost every month, but later, he became too preoccupied to give her time.

Sheila never felt bad about it as she was proud of her son’s success and understood he was swamped with work. Sadly, she couldn’t visit him due to her health issues, so she sent him postcards on his birthday every year, often writing little messages on them, including how proud she was of him.

Sheila sent postcards to Robert every year on his birthday. | Source: Pexels

But one year, Robert didn’t get the postcard. He got worried as he knew Sheila would never forget sending one. He called her right away, but she didn’t answer. He waited for her to return his call, but she never did, so he booked a flight home the next morning.

After 11 years, Robert was finally back in his hometown to see his mom. But when he finally arrived at Sheila’s house, he was surprised to see how old and terrible it looked from the outside. It was in desperate need of repairs, and he regretted not checking on his mother for so long.

“Mom? It’s me, Robert! I’m home, mom!” he called out as he knocked on the door, which swung open at the knock. He wondered why the door wasn’t locked.

Stepping inside, Robert noticed the house’s inner condition was no better than the outside. There was dust everywhere, and dirty dishes were lying on the kitchen table. “Mom, are you in your room?” He climbed the stairs to her room, but she wasn’t there.

Sheila’s house was in need of repairs. | Source: Pexels

Robert checked the whole house, but Sheila was nowhere to be found. Then he saw her phone on her bed. Where is she? Robert wondered, worried.

He was about to leave the house to ask around the neighborhood for her when he heard something. He focused his attention on the sound, which appeared to be coming from the cellar. It seemed like two men were discussing something.

Thinking someone had broken in, Robert grabbed a nearby vase and slowly made his way to the cellar. As he approached, the sounds became clearer, and he clutched the vase tightly.

When he was finally at the door, two men suddenly emerged from inside, and Robert dropped the vase in surprise.

“Luke? Ethan? What the hell are you guys doing here? And where is my mom?”

Robert recognized the men who appeared from the cellar. | Source: Pexels

Luke and Ethan were siblings who lived next door. Their parents were poor farmers, and the brothers were mocked by everyone — including Robert — as kids because they wanted to be farmers when they grew up, unlike other children with ambitious goals.

Unfortunately, they became orphans when Luke was 18. They were struggling back then, so Luke called Robert and requested a job, but Robert told him he was too busy and ignored all of his phone calls.

Luke was disappointed that he couldn’t find work, but Ethan encouraged him not to give up. They worked together and eventually became prosperous farmers, owning several acres of land and gaining massive wealth, all thanks to their hard labor.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” Robert repeated himself.

Ethan and Luke exchanged an annoyed look. “Don’t you think you’re too late to ask that, boy?” Ethan replied to him angrily. “You’d know what happened to your mother if you didn’t block our numbers!”

“What?” Robert got increasingly concerned. “What happened to mom?”

“She’s in the hospital,” Luke revealed. “She was hospitalized a week ago after falling down the house stairs. We called you, but you already know that story! … We came here to give her some fruits, and luckily, we saw her and took her to the hospital. She’s coming home today, so we thought we’d make her a nice meal,” he said, pointing to the veggies they took from the cellar.

“I’m sorry,” Robert said, embarrassed. “Thank you, guys. Can you tell me where she was admitted? I’d like to pay her a visit.”

“Sure, we’re heading there in a bit to arrange for her discharge. You’re welcome to join us,” Ethan suggested.

“All right, thanks, and I’m very sorry for the horrible things I said to you when we were kids…” Robert added, embarrassed.

“It’s all good. Make sure you check on your mom regularly. She misses you so much. Do you even know that?” Luke asked, and Robert’s face flushed red with guilt.

Sheila was admitted to the hospital. | Source: Pexels

Later that day, Sheila couldn’t stop crying when she saw her son. “Oh my God! Is that you, Robbie? I missed you so much, honey!”

Robert wrapped his arms around her, tears in his eyes. “I missed you as well, Mom! I promise I’ll visit you often from now on. I regret not being there for you!”

“Oh, you’re finally here, and that’s all that matters. I love you!” she told him.

“Love you too, mom!”

“Woah, Woah! Slow down, man!” Ethan said. “Money is important, but it’s never been a priority for us! We looked after your mother because she reminds us of our mother. So please don’t embarrass us by offering money in return….”

Robert realized Luke and Ethan were genuinely nice guys and much better people to Sheila than him. That night, he joined the boys in cooking dinner for Sheila and cleaning her house. Sheila hadn’t been this happy in a LONG, LONG time.

What can we learn from this story?

• Money is essential for survival, but it’s not everything. Luke and Ethan didn’t take the money from Robert when he offered it because they looked after Sheila out of respect and regard for her, without expecting anything in return.
• Never look down on someone because they are different from you. Robert mocked Luke and Ethan because they were poor and wanted to be farmers one day. He realized how wrong he was when he found out they were more helpful to Sheila than he was.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a son who regains consciousness after a concussion and asks his mother to divorce his stepfather.

This account is inspired by our reader’s story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only.