Off The Record
Teen Skips Mom At Graduation, Brings Date Instead—Sparks Outrage And Debate
A son hides his one-eyed mother from the public and forbids her from attending his graduation because he is so ashamed of her.
Derek Ryder had a mother, but most people were unaware of this. Derek simply became quiet as his buddies discussed their parents. He never asked any of his pals over to watch a movie or play video games.
In actuality, nobody ever entered Derek’s home from elementary school until his senior year of high school. “Look, babe, my mother is funny religious, she won’t let me date…” he would say to a female he was dating. — but all of this was a big lie to avoid having to introduce her.
Derek was ashamed of his mother, and that was the unpleasant reality. She was a weirdo, something from a horror film, and he didn’t want anyone to know it. The left half of Derek’s mother’s face was covered in scars, and she only had one eye.
That was Gail Ryder’s personality for as long as Derek could recall. As he grew older, he observed how people responded to her, but as a child, he hadn’t really noticed—she was just his mother.
He came to the realisation that his mother wasn’t like other people; she was ugly. Even though his mother wore a cap and large dark glasses, he noticed how the other mothers winced on the first day of school.
That evening, he said to her, “Mom, I don’t want you to take me to the gate.” “I can walk in on my own.”
“But, honey, every other mother sends her kids to school.You’re still small, too!” Gail had stated.
“You’re a FREAK!” Derek had let out a scream. “I heard Bobby’s mum say so and now they will all say I’m a freak too!”
The cruel bear the weight of regret for the rest of their lives.
Gail never returned to the school after that. She would drive away after dropping Derek off, tears streaming down her right cheek. She was devastated that her son felt ashamed of her.
Derek was content as long as Gail remained out of his public life; he acted as though she were a recluse, a devout follower, or anything else that would prevent others from learning the truth.
But Derek found himself in a difficult situation when graduation rolled around. The headmaster had given him a pat on the back and called him valedictorian. “Well, my man, I hope we finally meet your mother!” he replied. “I want to congratulate her personally!”
His mum? Derek was unable to attend the graduation with his mother! Everyone would be aware! What could he do, though? That evening, he located a character acting agency and hired an actress for himself.
The woman he selected was the epitome of the person he had always hoped would be his mother. Kind-faced, unscarred, and attractive. Derek made arrangements for his pseudo-mom to come get him from his house and gave the woman strict instructions on what to say and how to dress.
When Gail saw Derek in his graduation cape, she gasped. “Derek! Is it today? Oh just give me time to get dressed!”
“Are you dressed?” “For what?” Derek enquired.
“Why, to go to your graduation, honey!” Gail answered.
“You’re not going!” Derek told her icily. “I’ve spent my entire life hiding you, do you think I want you on the most important day of my life, showing your ugly face?”
Tears filled Gail’s one eye. “Derek,” she said in a whisper. “How can you be so cruel?”
“Face it, mom, you’re a freak, OK?” Derek let out a yell. “You have always made me feel humiliated. Do you now comprehend that I have hired someone to replace you?”
Gail was deadly pale. She nodded. “Oh my son,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry…” But Derek had turned his back and was out of the door. Two weeks later, he left home and went to college in California.
Derek was told that his mother had died ten years later, but he never got in touch with her again. Her friends had planned the burial, but she had left Derek her home and a sizeable estate.
A large estate? Derek was taken aback. Derek never thought there would be much left over, even while it was true that his mother had paid for his college studies by sending checks each month along with notes he never read.
Derek then took a plane back home and met Terry Arlington, his mother’s attorney. “Well, Mr. Ryder, your mother left you close to $700,000 plus the house, which is estimated to be worth over $1.5 million…”
“But…I don’t understand! My mother lived a modest life…My father left her I believe, and he gave her nothing…” Derek exclaimed.
Arlington stated, “It was the insurance, and the compensation, of course,” “Surely you know about those?”
“No!” Derek exclaimed in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“Mr. Ryder, you approached an odd dog in the park when you were three years old.” Arlington clarified, “Your mother threw herself between you and the animal when she saw that.” “As a result, she was viciously mauled, blinded, and scarred for life.”
With tears in his eyes, Derek murmured, “But…It would have been me…”
“I’ve always considered your mother one of the bravest and most selfless people I’ve ever known, Mr. Ryder, a true hero,” Arlington replied with a smile. “You must have been very proud of her.”
The lawyer’s final remarks echoed in Derek’s ears as he left. After seeing his mother’s grave in the cemetery, he knelt down with tears in his eyes.
“Oh mum,” he said in a whisper. “I was so mean to you, and you saved me…Please pardon me, mum.”
Derek made a commitment to not conceal anything about his past after that day. On his desk, he placed one of the few pictures he had of his mother wearing large glasses to cover the scars.
Every time he looked at it, he was reminded of her kindness and sacrifice, as well as how nasty and self-centred he had been.
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