That was when Mom finally told me what they had been keeping from me for months.
Grandpa was going into the hospital the next morning.
He needed major heart surgery.
That was also the reason Mom kept telling me not to sit on his lap. A few months earlier, Grandpa had undergone leg surgery, and the doctors had warned him against any unnecessary strain.
I looked at Mom.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want you to be scared.”
Grandpa took my hand.
“And I didn’t want to go to the hospital before we kept our promise.”
“What promise?”
He pointed to the telescope.
When I was five, I had once told Grandpa:
“Someday, I want to stay up all night with you and watch shooting stars.”
I had completely forgotten about it.
He hadn’t.
A rare meteor shower was due that night, and Grandpa had spent months repairing Grandma’s old telescope so he could fulfill that childhood wish of mine before his surgery.
Around two in the morning, the three of us were out on the porch.
I was on my mattress.
Grandpa was on his.
Mom was sitting between us.
Suddenly, the first streak of light cut across the sky.
“I saw it!” I shouted.
Grandpa laughed.
Then a second one appeared.
And a third.
At one point, Mom rested her head on Grandpa’s shoulder.
And suddenly, I understood something I hadn’t even thought about earlier that night.
My mother wasn’t afraid of Grandpa.
She was afraid of losing him.
The next morning, Grandpa was taken to the hospital. The surgery lasted more than five hours.
I spent all that time sitting in the waiting room, holding the small cap from his old telescope in my hand.
When the doctor finally came out, Mom stood up immediately.
The doctor smiled.
“Everything went well.”
Eighteen years have passed since that day.
Grandpa is very old now.
But every year, on that same date, I still go to his house.
We lay out two mattresses on the porch, set up the telescope by the window, and wait for the first shooting star to appear.
And every time—without fail—Grandpa smiles and asks me:
“So, are you going to stay by my side tonight, too?”
And from the other room, Mom always calls out:
“Just make sure she doesn’t fall asleep on top of you this time, George!” 😭❤️
A mother’s heart is always thinking of her children and wishing for their safety. Do you agree? ❤️
