The son and his wife built a new house but forced their old mother to live in the old house in the backyard. On the day his mother died, the son found a wooden box, which tormented him for the rest of his life…
In a peaceful town in Oregon, there was a widow named Helen Parker.
After her husband died in a work accident, she lived with her only son, Nathan Parker.
Hele worked hard all her life, working for hire, selling vegetables, gardening to raise her children.
Thanks to her mother’s efforts and love, Nathan studied well and became a civil engineer in Portland.

When he succeeded, Nathan married Laura, a beautiful and skillful city girl, but also quite pragmatic.
Their marriage was not bad, but there was always an invisible gap between them and their rustic old mother.

At the age of 35, Nathan decided to build a new, spacious house on the old land that his mother had preserved all her life.
When the project was completed, everyone in the neighborhood admired it.

The two-story house with a large garden and sparkling glass doors —
Nathan’s pride and also the dream that Helen had dreamed of all her life.

However, during the first meal at the new house, Laura suddenly said:

“Mom, the new house is beautiful and spacious, but we need private space for guests and friends.
How about you move to the old house in the backyard? That house is small, convenient for you to live alone.”

Nathan paused for a moment, but then nodded.

“It’s fine for you to live there. I’ll fix it up a bit to make you more comfortable.”

Helen just smiled.
Not angry, not sad, just nodded slightly.
She understood — her daughter-in-law wanted to show her “status” in this house,
and she didn’t want to make it difficult for her son.

So the old mother moved back to the old wooden house in the backyard,
where she used to hug her son to sleep on cold winter nights.

She lived quietly, grew vegetables, raised a few chickens,
and never complained.

Nathan was busy with work, rarely stopping by.
Laura occasionally came over, but only to ask a few polite questions.

That year, autumn came early.
One morning, Nathan received a call from a neighbor:

“Helen fell in the garden. We took her to the hospital.”

He and his wife rushed over, but it was too late.
Mrs. Helen passed away after a stroke.
Nathan knelt by the hospital bed, tears streaming down his face.
He felt like he had lost the most precious thing,
but the most painful thing was realizing that he had never been with his mother properly

After the funeral, Nathan returned to the small house where his mother used to live.
The house was silent, except for the faint scent of lavender that his mother planted outside the window.
He packed up his things, turned over each old board,
and found a small wooden box, carefully tied with a string.

Opening it, he was stunned.

Inside was…a savings book with more than $10,000 –
in the name of Nathan Parker.

He realized that it was the money his mother had saved all her life –
from selling vegetables, collecting scrap, and working for hire in her old age.

Next to the book was a handwritten letter, written in the mother’s trembling handwriting:

“My dear son,

I leave this money to you and Laura,
so that you two have capital to do business and raise your grandchildren in the future.

I don’t need a big house.
I’m happy to live in the small house – where you and I were happiest.

Live well, love your wife and children,
and remember, wherever I am, I will always be proud of you.

Love you,
Mom.”

At the bottom of the box was an old silver bracelet,
the only wedding gift her husband had given her before he passed away.

Nathan hugged the bracelet and burst into tears.
He remembered the image of his mother in the past —
carrying rice and singing him to sleep,
still wearing this silver bracelet on her wrist. Nathan returned home and told Laura everything.
She was silent, her eyes red:

“You were wrong, Nathan.
I didn’t know Mom would sacrifice so much.”

Nathan didn’t blame his wife,
because he knew he was also at fault.
He was engrossed in his career,
leaving his mother alone in the cold house in the backyard.

He decided to use all the money his mother left behind
to rebuild the old house, naming it “Helen’s Home”,
turning it into a place of worship and remembrance for her.

In addition, he set up a scholarship fund in his mother’s name,
to help poor children in the town go to school

But no matter how many good deeds he did,
Nathan still couldn’t erase the feeling of guilt.
Every night, he dreamed of his mother standing in the garden,
still with that gentle smile,
but her eyes were sad, as if blaming him.

He knew, his mother wasn’t angry.
She just wanted him to understand,
her love didn’t need to be reciprocated,
it just needed to be cherished while it was still possible.

The old house was now carefully taken care of,
surrounded by lavender flowers – Helen’s favorite flower.
Every afternoon, Nathan sat on the porch,
watching the sunlight fall on the silver bracelet on his hand,
whispering:

“Mom, I’m sorry…
I will live well, as you wished.”

A mother’s love is the only thing in this world that is never asked for.
But once we let it slip away,
that regret will follow us for the rest of our lives