“Tyler? Is it REALLY you?” Grace exclaimed on seeing her son, who was now reduced to begging for scraps on the street.

The beggar recoiled, horrified, as he tried hiding his face from the mother he had abandoned three years ago when she was paralyzed.

“Tyler…is it you?” Grace’s trembling voice startled the homeless man again, snapping them to the moment.

The guy turned away, trying to hide his dirty face from her.

“Yeah, it’s me, Mom!” said Tyler in a voice breaking down with emotions.

But the homeless man was cut off when Grace grabbed his hand tightly. Her grip, though weak from her condition, conveyed years of pent-up grief, love, and desperation. Tears streamed down her face as she clung to him.

“Why, Tyler?” she sobbed, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Why did you leave me?”

Tyler’s eyes filled with tears. He had no excuses, no justifications. The shame of abandoning his mother when she needed him most had eaten away at him every day.

“I was scared, Mom,” he confessed, his voice trembling. “I couldn’t handle seeing you like that. I thought I was too young to take care of you, that I needed to live my own life. But I was wrong, so wrong.”

Grace pulled him into a hug, not caring about the dirt or the stench. Her son was here, in her arms, and that’s all that mattered.

“We all make mistakes, Tyler,” she said softly, stroking his hair. “But you’re here now, and that’s what matters. We’ll figure this out together.”

Tyler nodded, his tears soaking into his mother’s shoulder. He felt a mixture of relief and guilt; relief that he was finally facing his past, and guilt for the pain he had caused.

Grace’s nurse, who had been pushing her wheelchair, watched the reunion with tears in her eyes. She had heard Grace talk about Tyler countless times, always with a mixture of sadness and hope. She had never expected this day to come, but now that it had, she knew it was a turning point for both of them.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, Tyler,” the nurse said gently, stepping forward. “And then we can go home.”

Tyler looked at her, then back at his mother, and nodded. For the first time in years, he felt a glimmer of hope. He had a long road ahead to make amends and rebuild his life, but he wasn’t alone anymore. He had his mother, and that was a start.

As they walked away, Grace holding onto Tyler’s hand as if she would never let go, they both knew that healing would take time. But they also knew that they had each other, and together, they could face anything.

The streets that had been Tyler’s prison for so long faded into the background as they moved forward, step by step, towards a new beginning.