I said to my son, “Do you see this smooth path before you? It is even and level. This is the path that most people walk. Maybe a small hole in it here and there.

But this is not the path that I have been forced to walk. My path has been one made up of jagged edges, sharp rocks. Hard, cold rocks that cut the bottom of my feet. This is how my whole life has been; no matter how good I have been; no matter what I do; my feet always get cut.

I try to be the best person I can; the best wife; the best mom; the best friend; the best worker; the most faithful; the most loyal; humble, patient, kind, loving, generous, forgiving person I can be.

But the path never seems to change.
My worth goes completely unnoticed, especially to myself.

There is no justice.

I am inconsequential to anyone who has the power to take the sharp stones from my feet.
Laws protect the evildoers.
Statutes of limitations help evil to continue.
No one is held accountable for giving away misery.

My feet are worn, dear son, for I have lost too much blood. The skin is so thin on the soles of my feet that you can count the small bones that now grind against the sharp rocks on the paths of my entire life.

He looks at me and without batting an eye says, “Nobody cares mom. Nothing is ever going to change. It is what it is…”

I suddenly realize, with such great sadness, that all my words, all my pain and all my sorrow cannot mean anything to someone who has never, nor will ever, walk the path of sharp rocks. One who has never had the bottom of his tender, protected, feet torn to shreds into bloodied raw flesh; with barely nothing holding on to the fragments of bones left.

He has no idea what I am saying – and I suddenly realize how utterly grateful I truly am that he doesn’t have a clue -
Grateful he has never had to walk down the path that I have been forced to walk.

I made some excuse to leave the room.
I left him standing there.
I walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I  held my hand over my mouth to prevent any sound from escaping; and I wept.