Watching over her

"Things ended when I caught him cheating and he tried to blame it on me. When that didn't work, he broke up with me and kicked me and my brother out. So, we became homeless once more. This of course brought back the memories, the hurt and the rejection I was feeling when my parents kicked us out. Fortunately, that pain made me stronger. It made me feel like I never wanted to be that dependent of someone else again. I vowed that I would make it, using my own skills, and that I would earn enough to find a place of my own for me and my brother to stay.

I had to drop out of college in my second year, without a degree, but by now I had learned enough, experienced enough to be able to make my way to earn second place at I.E.'s hackathon. I stood out to the owners, Noah Stephens and Steve Branson, who offered me a job and a home after hearing my story. I am very grateful to them, and couldn't have gotten this far in this short amount of time, if it wasn't for them and their kindness. I am forever indebted to them, because they allowed me to turn my life around. They gave me a job, they helped me grow, and they even allowed me to meet Anthony."

Susan was both shocked and impressed with Rebecca's story. Despite being fairly young, she had seemed quite mature for her age, which she now understood. She had experienced more in a short period of time, than most people do during an entire lifetime. Those type of things force you to mature fast. When she just met Rebecca and heard the news of the engagement, she wondered if Rebecca wasn't too young to be getting married. She had gotten married at a young age herself and it had been quite challenging. So, she was always worried when she saw two young people making the same decision as her, wondering if they'll make it, and if being a bit older would have shifted the odds in their favour.

Her son being 29, made him at the perfect age to move onto that next step in life, but Rebecca was 5 years his junior. At only 24, Susan had wondered if she was indeed ready for such a big commitment as marriage, but as a mother, she had also decided to let her children make their own mistakes. At most, she only planned on giving her own take on things and provide a listening ear, as well as some guidance, in order to help them get through the early stages. There are certain milestones that come with certain troubles. Once they would get through those, there would be nothing stopping them from making it till the very end. However, she now realized that Rebecca was in need of more than that. The thing she lacked most, was the love of a parent. Which Susan was now determined to shower her with every chance she got.

After listening to Rebecca's entire heart-breaking story, Susan time to speak had finally arrived. With a choked-up voice she said, "My dear, I have known for a long time that every child deserves a kind and loving parent, but unfortunately not all parents deserve to have children. Some of those people underserving of them, end up getting them anyways. We don't know why this is, but we must remember in those times, that God works in mysterious ways. We cannot always understand the reasons for everything that happens in life, but usually they happen for a reason. Even your hardships and challenges were necessary for you to become the person you are today. After all, God gives us no challenges we can't handle, and for every door that is closed, a window is opened. Something you my dear, have proven. The decisions you made during those critical moments in your life, brought you to this point. It made you meet the wonderful people you know now. Everyone has their own path they must travel, and I hope that from here on out, more good things stand in your path."

Rebecca could feel the love in Susan's words, and hearing her use the words her grandmother used to say, made her feel that her grandmother was still watching over her and was approving her relationship with Anthony. That he was indeed another food thing in her life, that would make it even better. Every instance where her grandmother's wise words had been repeated by someone, be it literally or paraphrased, it had always been a positive and life changing moment. The last one being when she met Noah and Steve. She was now certain that this moment would prove to be the same positive change that she needed in this stage of her life, like meeting Noah and Steve had been in that stage of her life.