Mom Looks Like My Sister

while Mom was at work I crept into her bedroom and searched her closet and all her drawers for evidence of something I lifted up a blanket from her bed and almost had a heart attack hi I'm Ming from China see my mom she was the prettiest girl in our whole town she literally won the Chinese beauty pageant five years in a row and became Rich from it everyone would stop her in the streets to tell her how beautiful she was best of all dad adored mom to bits and was always showering her with gifts and then I was born oh darling she looks exactly like you same lips and cheeks you and Ming should compete in pageants together when she gets older well that's exactly what we did when I was three mom and I competed in Duo pageants winning every time and soaking up the glory then one day when I was 10. I was in my dressing room when I heard mom had to be rushed to the hospital what's going on is she hurt it's her skin it's become completely wrinkled and inflamed the doctors think she has a rare and untreatable condition what do you mean untreatable I want to see my mama now gnoming the pageant is in three minutes you'll have to go on without her I was totally powerless but I did end up winning first prize sadly everyone was too depressed to celebrate mom looked like a freaking 80 year old with red lumps on her face it's obvious I won't be able to compete with you anymore look at me Mom don't talk that way he'll always be beautiful in my eyes oh spare me Ming I don't want your pity I felt so awful and as I continued competing in pageants people constantly compared me to my mom especially my grandma it's heartbreaking what happened to my daughter's skin it's too upsetting for me to visit her these days at least you look the way she used to their comments made me Furious I could feel mom's growing resentment worst of all the tension was affecting my parents relationship and they started fighting all the time finally when I was 16 my parents divorced mom got custody since she'd been my primary caretaker mostly because she'd always been driving me to our pageants and it was then I decided I'd had enough I don't want to be in pageants anymore mom I only did them in the first place because of you and I don't like how bitter and jealous you get every time I compete that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard why would I be jealous of my own daughter gee good question all I know is it just got worse as I got older I quit pageants and then mom decided to move to the US which was a big adjustment and as soon as we settled she became even more of a nightmare to be around that's a disgusting amount of makeup but I'm just wearing lip gloss well you're wearing too much for a girl your age wash it off right this second I don't understand how you can eat all those pancakes and not blow up like a balloon enjoy it while you can see what I mean luckily my new school became much happier than my home life one day at school I asked around to see if I could get an English tutor since I still wasn't comfortable with the language all the kids recommended the same guy someone named Gavin he tutors for volunteer hours so it won't cost you anything plus he's gorgeous every girl at school has a crush on him oh well I'm not looking to date at the moment I just want to pass my classes but when I met Gavin in the library that day my heart skipped 10 beats he looked like a storybook Prince how could I concentrate on homework with that smoke show up in my space are are you okay your cheeks are bright red and you look adorable I do not look adorable I mean can we get to work please my homework's not gonna do itself we sat down to study and I had to admit Gavin was as brilliant as he was handsome but when I started doing my math homework he kept staring at me with his twinkling dark eyes which made me nervous so are you free to go out this weekend excuse me I don't want to go out at all you're just here to tutor me I know but I can't fight my attraction for you I've never believed in love at first sight until now seriously does anyone fall for your cringy pickup lines face it mean I'm smart I'm funny and I have great hair you won't be able to resist me for long I couldn't help rolling my eyes at that maybe I should get a new tutor except that same week I ended up getting an A on two exams see I don't disappoint now will you go out with me just because you helped me get a good grade doesn't mean I owe you anything come on just one date with that Gavin pulled out two tickets from his pocket and holy crud they were to a Sasha concert my favorite singer I've been saving these for someone special Ming okay okay I'll go but only because I'm a huge Sasha fan but this is not a date the night of the concert Gavin came to pick me up at six but the second Mom saw him she looked Furious and pulled me aside where do you think you're going with that boy to Sasha's concert I already told you I was going with a friend please do you really expect me to believe Mr heartthrob here is just a friend he'll break your heart just like your father broke mine you're not going to that concert but Sasha is my favorite singer and you and I both know Dad didn't do anything wrong that comment made mom so angry that she sent Gavin home and me up to my room I was so mad I was shaking then suddenly I heard a noise from my bedroom that was coming from the dog door it was Gavin hey I think I'm stuck you're gonna have to give me a hand oh my God are you trying to crawl into my room well you want to go to that concert don't you you said you're a huge fan and if you can fit through this door you probably won't get caught my heart fluttered as he smiled up at me there wasn't any harm in going on a date with him was there so I crawled through my dog door and let Gavin drive me to the concert but soon we hit traffic and we're running over an hour late this is all mom's fault it's because of her we left during rush hour she's becoming even more of a train wreck since the divorce your parents are divorced wow small world your parents are divorced too well actually mom left us a couple of days ago she met some guy at work and is leaving my dad to be with him wow I'm so sorry it's fine I'll get through it Gavin didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it anymore so I turned on the radio the concert was nearly over by the time we arrived but Gavin had an idea we're parked right above the stadium if we just sit on my car we'll have time to hear the last song The Last Song was a slow one and I closed my eyes swaying my shoulders in the wind I know your mom isn't perfect but you sure are beautiful like her hate it when people compare me to my mom can I be my own person I'm more than just a pretty face I know that you also have pretty hair I slapped him right then and he leaned in for a kiss I felt fireworks between us then suddenly Gavin pulled away no I can't do this what do you mean I don't want to fall for you I'm scared of getting hurt I don't want what happened to my parents to happen to us dude we're in high school I'm gonna run off with some other guy your parents failed relationship doesn't mean you have to live in fear but Gavin just said taking me to the concert was a mistake and started driving me home I felt like such an idiot he was the one who'd asked me out I'd let him drag me hours away from home at midnight so we could give him a chance thankfully mom was in bed when I got home and I fell asleep with no trouble then at around 5am I felt someone's hands on my head it was Mom Ming go back to sleep at that second I spotted a pair of scissors in her hands what are you doing with those I and why are you holding a strand of my hair are you cutting my hair in my sleep I just need a couple of strands what why please don't ask questions no I will ask questions you can't just cut my hair in my sleep without telling me why watch your tone young lady I'm not doing anything wrong here you need to learn to respect your elders and bite your tongue mom stormed out of my room and slammed the door she grounded me for a week but I wasn't gonna let her scare me while Mom was at work I crept into her bedroom and searched her closet and all her drawers for evidence of something then finally I lifted up a blanket from her bed and almost had a heart attack on her bed was an open cardboard box with a pile of my hair strands how long had she been collecting my hair I wasn't sure what she was gonna do with it but I knew one thing for sure I needed to get away from her I thought about booking a flight to China to go back and live with Dad except what if he didn't allow me to the next day at school I was in the library when suddenly I saw Gavin sitting across from me reading a book oh darn I'd forgotten to cancel her tutoring sessions Ming hey hi look I won't be needing any more tutoring sessions I'm moving back to China wait what you're leaving yes and I don't know when I'll be back you made the right choice not to kiss me at the concert we would have both ended apart everyone I've ever been close to in my life has done me wrong or got separated from me you were right to protect your heart Gavin he stared at me with sad eyes and I couldn't bear being around him anymore I went back to the house so I could secretly pack my bags and leave home but that night Mom knocked on my door do you have a minute what's going on what's in that box your 18th birthday is tomorrow so I made you a present oh man my birthday I completely forgotten what's this you asked why I was collecting strands of your hair well it was to make a quilt with something called dong Tai hair embroidery it's an old Chinese practice you sew hair strands onto a piece of white silk my grandmother started a tradition where a mother would embroider a piece pass it down to their daughter who would continue the work and keep working on it until it was finished then the next daughter in line would receive the quilts as a gift and that's you I was shocked Mom hated me there was no reason she'd want me a part of any family tradition I don't even remember the last time you gave me any presents let alone something like this well it's your 18th birthday and it's an old family practice my mother used to tell me back when we were close that she wanted me to continue it and you are my daughter after all mom hugged me awkwardly and I tried to feel happy maybe I didn't have to run away from home after all my mother loved me this was proof she loved me but I still couldn't sleep that night I felt in my gut something was off that Mom didn't give me that blanket for the reasons I thought she did suddenly I heard voices coming from the other room that sounded like a FaceTime conversation I can't believe you made me go through all that work to give Ming that dung Thai blanket she barely even said thank you I shouldn't even have to ask you to pass that blanket down to your own daughter I had to offer to take Ming for the summer so you'd agree to do it like I haven't already passed down enough to her being as prettier than I ever was and won more pageants than I ever did I did what you told me I gave her the stupid quilt what more do you want from me well that all made more sense of course mom hadn't changed and of course she hadn't grown to love me I refused to speak to both her and dad that week and one night after mom went to sleep I threw the dung Thai quilt into the fire with my strands of hair and two generations worth of work at school I still saw Gavin but I avoided him too after all I told him I was leaving the country on the last day of the semester I was taking my finals but I was panicking because I didn't know any of the answers I hadn't been able to find a tutor as good as Gavin and now I was the last one in the exam room I tried to calm myself with deep breaths when suddenly some kids ran in screaming pulling the examiner's arm Miss Benson someone broke into your car and that's when Gavin walked in and sat next to me we only have like two minutes tops give me your test I'll finish it for you no Gavin I can't ask you to do that but he'd already taken my test and was filling in the answers why was he helping me so obviously you didn't move to China in the end no not yet but I still might just get away from every everybody Stan Gavin why did you do this for me because I still care about you Ming I know I wasn't ready to kiss you that night at the concert but part of me regrets that really yeah I don't want my parents divorce to scare me away from falling in love you told me that night nothing is worth living in fear for Gavin pulled me close and I felt my heart skip a beat maybe you're right Gavin just because my mom didn't know how to love me doesn't mean there aren't other people out there who do you mean like me slow down buddy we're not there yet I leaned over and kissed him right then for the first time in ages I walked home feeling happy but when I entered the house I found mom sitting in front of a fireplace crying I can't believe you burnt the family quilt a three generation quilt it wasn't a three generation quilt because you were never gonna pass it down to me you only did it because Dad told you to you know what I'm done putting up with this I'm moving out of this house I'm not gonna live with you anymore that summer dad let me stay with him in China as he promised and Gavin and I applied to the same college and got in even after returning to the U.S yes I didn't see Mom and I also blocked her phone number but one night at College I was awake studying when I got a freaking message from Mom on Tick Tock begging me to call her Jesus she created a Tita just to get a hold of me I finally gave in just to get her off my back oh honey I'm so glad you called I've been wanting to talk to you and make amends for a while it's a little too late for that Mom I really don't have time to talk I have midterms tomorrow Ming you didn't let me finish I've been seeing a therapist and working through my issues I want to be better I want a fresh start well I am glad to hear you're finally getting help I know you've been suffering for a while but I can't just forget the way you've treated me all those years maybe one day I can forgive you I just don't know when that'll be I understand well if you ever do want to start over my home is always open to you I love you and I'm sorry about everything thanks mom I've always wanted to hear those words from you

Channel: MSA previously My Story Animated

Views: 11,747,583

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Id: BivMKaDvlNc

Length: 13min 3sec (783 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 20 2023