A cream-colored envelope fell through the mail slot. It landed on the welcome mat without a sound. 

What was this envelope? What mysteries did it entail?

A little face stared at the envelope with a puzzled look. He picked the letter up and ran through the house to his mother. 

“Mama!” his voice rang with excitement through the house as he hurried to his mother. His hands held the letter tightly.

His mother stood in the kitchen, the soft hum of the radio in the background and the chop-chop of the knife. She carefully cut peppers into strips and placed them in a bowl. Red, orange, yellow, and green peppers were in this bowl. 

She set her knife down and looked at him. “Yes? Did you get the mail?” 

“Yes, mama.” He gave her the envelope, it was crumpled slightly due to his hands holding it so tightly.

Her lips curled up into a soft smile. She had been expecting this letter for a while now. But she was patient. she knew circumstances might come up. 

“Thank you, sweetie.” She opened the envelope, the paper ripping as she opened it. She would remove the letter from inside. She unfolded the paper and read it, her eyes moving as she read every pen-written sentence. 

She set the letter on the counter. She looked at her child with a smile. 

“Grandma is coming over next week for dinner. Do you promise to be on your best behavior dear?” 

“Yes, mama! I pinky promise.” His eyes twinkled with excitement upon hearing that Grandma was coming over. 

His mother gently took the bowl of cut-up peppers from the counter, she set them by him. She watched as he ate the peppers, the little boy was quite happy and she was delighted to hear from her mother. She knew they had so much to catch up on since she had been ill.

She made sure her being ill didn’t change how she took care of her son. She made him food every day, she played with him. Every night she took her medicine, and she was getting better. 

She knew this was hard for her mother, especially to see her so ill.