I Missed My Plane, Helped a Homeless Mother — What Happened After I Gave Her My Key Still Haunts Me
Althea listened, barely breathing, absorbing every word.
«I asked her which house. She named this street and the old number. This street, this house.» Sienna pointed to the lake house. «I was shocked. I said, well, I’m staying in that house right now. Come on, I’ll walk you there. We brought her here and when she saw it… she just walked onto the porch, looked around, and burst into tears. She said, ‘I know this place. I was happy here. We were here summers with Langston.’ She constantly repeated that name, Langston.»
«Langston is my father’s name,» Althea said quietly, tears dripping off her chin. «He died thirty years ago.»
«See,» Sienna nodded sadly. «She lives almost entirely in the past. She remembers her husband clearly, remembers her youth, their early years together. But everything that happened after his death… the last thirty years… she doesn’t remember it. It’s gone.»
Althea looked at her mother who was cheerfully talking to the toddler about the ducks.
«At all? She remembers nothing recent? Not me?»
«I tried gently to ask her about family, about her home in the city. She described the old apartment where she lived with her husband when they were first married. She described her work—she was a teacher before you were born, right? But about you, about the fact that she has an adult daughter, or grandchildren… nothing. It’s as if it didn’t happen.»
«We need to show her to a doctor immediately.» Althea wiped her tears urgently, her business brain kicking back in. «This is severe memory loss. Maybe trauma. Maybe she fell while walking here, hit her head.»
«I took her to a doctor,» said Sienna quickly. «About a week after I found her, I took her to the local general practitioner in the village. He examined her, said physically she was okay, but that advanced tests and scans were needed in the city for the memory issues. But Beatrice refused point-blank. She got terrified at the mention of hospitals. I couldn’t force her, Althea. I wasn’t her relative.»
«It’s okay, you did right. I’ll find the best neurologist in the city.» Althea was already making plans. «We’ll get her home, do all the tests, MRIs, find out exactly what happened to her.»
They sat in silence for a few minutes, the only sounds the baby’s happy squeals and Beatrice’s soft voice. Althea couldn’t tear her gaze away from her mother. Beatrice held Leo with practiced ease and showed him how to throw breadcrumbs to the ducks. The baby laughed, and her mother smiled with such a soft, burden-free, happy smile that Althea hadn’t seen in decades.
«So, all this time, for six months, she has been living here with you?» Althea finally asked, her voice full of wonder.
«Yes,» Sienna nodded. «I couldn’t just leave her alone after I found her, you understand? She was so lost, so helpless. I decided I would let her stay with us until… well, until she remembered something or someone looked for her. I had no idea it was your mother the whole time.»
«And how did you live? How did you manage financially?» Althea remembered Dante talking about a job.
«I found a job at the general store in the village, not far from here. The owner is a wonderful older man, he allowed me to bring Leo with me to work so I didn’t need childcare. The pay isn’t big, but it was enough for groceries for the three of us. Beatrice helped around the house a lot, she loves to cook and clean. She cooks beautifully, by the way.» Sienna smiled fondly. «And she watched Leo when I was busy. He got so attached to her over these months. He calls her Grandma.»
«Grandma,» repeated Althea, the word landing hard. And a new wave of complex tears rose to her throat. Her mother doesn’t remember her own daughter, the daughter she pushed so hard, but she cares tenderly for a stranger’s child and finds happiness in it.
«Althea,» Sienna leaned forward across the table earnestly. «I don’t know what to say. I am so incredibly sorry. If I had known for a second it was your mother, I would have contacted you immediately, somehow.»
«You aren’t guilty of anything, Sienna,» Althea shook her head fiercely, reaching out to squeeze her hand. «You saved her. You gave her shelter when she was lost, you fed her, cared for her. Sienna, thank you so much. Thank you that you didn’t abandon my mom on the road, that you looked after her all these months when I couldn’t.»
«Thank you,» Sienna whispered back, tears appearing in her own eyes. «You sheltered me and Leo when we were on the street with absolutely nothing. You didn’t even know us, but you gave us a home. And I… I simply couldn’t abandon an elderly woman who needed help just like I did.»
They stood up and hugged tightly, two strangers bound by fate, both crying from relief, from happiness, from the sheer overwhelming release of everything experienced over these long six months.
They sat back down, wiping their faces. «Sienna,» Althea said, needing to know more about the woman who saved her mother. «This isn’t my business, and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. But Dante mentioned… how did you end up at the airport that night with a child? What happened to you?»
Sienna wiped her tears, took a deep breath, and looked out at the lake.
«I was married to a wealthy man in the city, Richard. We met five years ago when I was working in the accounting department at his company. He was charming, generous, courted me beautifully. I fell deeply in love.» She fell silent for a moment, her gaze becoming distant and pained. «The wedding was lavish. He bought me a beautiful condo, a new car, expensive clothes. I thought it was a fairy tale love. But after Leo was born eighteen months ago, everything changed. He started getting insanely jealous of the baby, said I was giving him too much attention and ignoring my wifely duties. And then… then he started hitting me.»
«God,» whispered Althea, horrified.
«At first it was rarely, apologies and flowers after. Then more and more often. He controlled my every step, checked my phone, my odometer. I couldn’t leave the house without his permission, couldn’t call my old friends. My parents died years ago, and my only brother lives overseas. I was completely isolated and all alone, and I was terrified that one day he would kill me during one of his rages, or even worse, hurt Leo.»
Sienna ran a hand over her face, brushing away new tears at the memory.
«I started saving money little by little from the grocery cash he gave me. Hid it away. It took me six months to save enough. And that day at the airport… I waited until he went to work, packed one bag for Leo, and just ran. I went to the bus station first, then got scared he’d find me there, so I went to the airport thinking I’d buy the cheapest ticket anywhere. I didn’t even know where I was going. Just went wherever my eyes looked to get away from him, and then… then you stopped and talked to me.»
«Is he looking for you?» asked Althea, her protective instincts flaring up.
«I don’t know. Probably. He’s possessive. But the store owner here hired me off the books for cash, so Richard couldn’t find me through employment databases or tax records.»
Althea thought for a moment, her resolve hardening. «You know, Sienna, I think after everything we’ve been through together, we’re family now.»
«Family,» smiled Sienna tearfully.
«I have a proposal for you.» Althea looked her straight in the eyes. «I want to offer you a job in my company’s finance department in the city. On normal terms, with official registration, benefits, and a very good salary that reflects your skills. You said you were an accountant.»
«Yes, I was a good one, but Althea…»
«No buts. You saved my mother’s life. You cared for her for six months when I didn’t even know if she was alive. I am the one who owes you everything. And also, I want to take you and Leo home with us to the city. Mama needs to come home for treatment. I have a huge house there, it’s practically empty. There’s enough room for everyone to have their own space. Leo will be better off in the city too—more opportunities, good pediatricians, daycare, schools later on.»
«Althea.» Sienna looked at her with utter amazement. «That is too much. You have already done so much for us by letting us stay here.»
«It isn’t too much. It is right,» said Althea firmly. «Mama will be with me where I can care for her. You will have a good job and independence. We’ll hire a nanny for Leo for the time you’re at work, or maybe Mama can help if she’s able. Everyone will be busy and cared for. All together. Like a real family.»
«Like a family,» repeated Sienna softly. And tears flowed down her cheeks again, tears of relief and hope. «I have dreamed of having a real, safe family for so long.»
They had lunch all together at the big table in the gazebo. The soup was delicious. Beatrice told stories about her youth, about how she met the dashing Langston Vance at a dance. How they drove down south in his old convertible for their honeymoon. She spoke vividly, with a bright smile and sparkling eyes. It seemed she had truly returned mentally to that happy, untroubled time of her life.
Althea listened and cried silently, turning away so her mother wouldn’t see. Her mother was alive, she was right here nearby. But at the same time, she wasn’t. The happy woman sitting opposite her didn’t remember Althea’s birth, her childhood, their life together, or their terrible fights. It was happiness and tragedy simultaneously.
The next day, Althea summoned the city’s best neurologist to come out to the lake house for a consultation. The doctor conducted a thorough physical exam, asked many questions that Beatrice answered cheerfully but vaguely, and ordered a full battery of tests and brain scans to be done in the city.
«Judging by the symptoms and history, your mother likely suffered a TIA, a transient ischemic attack, often called a mini-stroke,» the doctor told Althea privately on the porch later. «It probably happened around the moment of her disappearance, perhaps brought on by stress. A mini-stroke can sometimes proceed almost asymptomatically physically, the person doesn’t always even understand what happened to them. But the cognitive consequences can be serious. In your mother’s specific case, it seems the areas of the brain responsible for storing and retrieving long-term memories from the last few decades were affected.»
«So she will never remember me? The last thirty years are just gone?» Althea’s voice trembled with devastation.
«I can’t say for sure yet. The brain is a remarkably complex and plastic system. Sometimes memory is restored partially or even completely over time as the brain heals and rewires. Sometimes not. It takes time, patience, rehabilitation, and the support of loved ones. I will prescribe treatment to help blood flow and cognition, vitamins. Most importantly, surround her with familiar things from her past life—photographs, objects, tell her stories about herself. This can help trigger associations.»
A week later, they all moved back to the big city house. Althea gave Sienna and Leo a beautiful, separate guest suite on the second floor so they would have privacy. She hired a wonderful nanny for Leo during the day and processed Sienna into the company’s finance department as a senior accountant.
Sienna turned out to be an excellent employee—attentive, responsible, a fast learner who quickly mastered the company’s systems. Even Elias, who initially treated the newcomer with protective distrust on Althea’s behalf, admitted a month later that hiring her was a very successful decision.
While Sienna was at work, Leo stayed home with the nanny and Beatrice. The elderly woman grew even more attached to the boy in the familiar setting of her old home. She cared for him with such natural tenderness and patience that the nanny often joked, «I have nothing to do here, Ms. Vance. Mrs. Beatrice does everything herself better than I can.»
Gradually, very slowly, glimpses of memory began to return to Beatrice in flashes. First, she remembered her old friend Elizabeth and asked to call her. Then, she remembered the exact address of this house where she had lived for forty years. Then, snippets of Althea’s childhood.
It happened three months after the move back to the city. Althea came home late from work, exhausted as usual, and her mother met her at the threshold, holding Leo’s hand. Beatrice looked at her, and for a moment, her eyes were completely clear, seeing the present.
«Althea, my daughter,» she said simply, her voice trembling slightly. » You’re home late. How I missed you today.»
Althea dropped her briefcase and they hugged tightly in the hallway, both crying from happiness. Beatrice still didn’t remember many details of the last 30 years—the fights, the business struggles—but she remembered the main thing: that this woman was her daughter, whom she loved deeply.
Now they all live together in the big house, which is no longer silent. Sienna works hard and has gradually gained confidence in herself, filing for divorce with the help of Althea’s formidable lawyers, knowing she is safe now. Leo has grown into a healthy, noisy, and happy toddler who fills the rooms with laughter. Beatrice is recovering slowly, remembering something new from her past every few days, surrounded by care.
And for the first time in many, many years, Althea felt she finally had a real family—not one dictated by heavy obligations, duty, and expectations, but one created by chance, shared trauma, love, and mutual support. She still worked hard, but she no longer dreaded coming home.
