Parents are God’s most important gift. We have to make the most of their presence – you’ll never find other parents once yours are gone. Paris was a matriculant who lived with his single mom. They lived in a two roomed house. There was this filthy-rich man who enjoyed Paris’s company. Did I mention that Paris’s mother was blind? No one knows the reason for her blindness except for herself.

One day Paris’s mom became thirsty and sent her son to fetch her some water. Paris always took advantage of his mom’s blindness; he decided to visit his neighbour. Paris was busy indulging himself in Victoria’s Tears with his neighbour, he completely forgot about the water his mother had sent him to get. While Paris was busy enjoying himself, his mother decided to go get water herself ,even though she couldn’t see.

She walked until she reached the kitchen. She tried to reach for a glass to get water, but the glass fell and broke into sharp pieces. She was frightened when the glass fell. It caught her off guard and she tripped and fell. She fell on pieces of the splintered glass. The glass got logged in her neck, then she started fighting for her life.

Paris finally remembered that his mother had sent him to fetch water, that’s when he went home. He didn’t rush home, as he knew that his mother would do nothing to reprimand him due to her being blind. When he opened the door he was shocked at the sight of seeing his mother in a pool of blood on the floor. He knelt down beside her and took his hand in his. His mother then spoke to him, her only son.

She said, “Paris please listen to me. When I fell pregnant with you, the whole village laughed and mocked me because I was too young. They judged me. My parents gave me an ultimatum, they told me to abort you or leave their house. I realised that it was better to leave, because I knew God gave me a child which was a blessing – and that I would fight for that child until he grew up. What everyone did not know was that, including my own mother, I never had a boyfriend. I was raped by my own father until I fell pregnant.

“Since you were created from the same genes you had a disorder that affected your eyes. My parents died four years later, leaving me with only you and a big mansion. You had gone totally blind. The house was the only thing I had so, I sold it. The buyer of the house ripped me off, he gave me only half of what I was supposed to get. With the money I got, I had to decide whether I was going to use it for the expensive operation you needed or save it for your education.

“I gave you my eyes and saved the money for your education so you could have a bright future, you had eyes now and you could see perfectly. Guess what Paris, the house I am talking about is our neighbour’s mansion and the person who ripped me off is the same person you are spending time with, instead of taking care of your mother.

“The reason why you always find me tired when you come back from school, is that our neighbour calls men over to sleep with him for money. From the money I get, I only use R10.00 to buy beer so that I could continue with the filthy job. What I do is evil and no women should do it, but I did it with an open heart as I wanted you to survive. I only use R10. Do you know where the rest of the money is? You’re wearing it. You have R 250 000 in the bank, it ensures you a bright future.”

Then she went silent and her body went motionless.

Death is the end. Most people judged Paris’s mom without knowing her story. Do not judge a book by its cover.