The Meeting

(While reading Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee, I really liked the character of Duff and wished they would have gone more into detail about if and when she ever got to meet her real birth mother. Since that did not happen in the story, I decided to write a scene where Duff meets her birth mother and the connection they form through their meeting and conversation.)

It was 2:30 P.M. on a cool November afternoon in Baden, Elsa County, Iowa. Duff, now eighteen years old was sitting on a brown park bench, wearing a white pearl necklace, white long sleeved button up blouse, black knee length skirt, black stockings and black Mary Jane style heels with her pale hair styled up in a tight bun. She looked up at the clouds in the sky as she waited for someone to show up that she was expecting to meet up with. She wanted to look nice so she could make a good impression. As she listened to the birds chirping in the trees nearby, an older woman began to approach her.

The older woman looked very similar to Duff. She had the same pale skin, pale eyes and pale hair. The older woman was wearing a light blue knee length dress, light blue peep toe pumps, a light blue sweater and a light blue headband. As she finally reached Duff, she asked in a calm, soft spoken voice “Excuse me, is your name Duff, by any chance?”

Duff looked at the woman with a warm smile and said “Yes, that is my name. Are you Elizabeth, my birth mother?”

The woman smiled back and said “Yes, I am.”

Duff was excited to finally meet her birth mother. It had been two years since Taylor first told her she was adopted. As a child Duff was always gentle, kind, loving and generous and those qualities stayed with her as she grew older. Although Duff did consider Taylor, Jase and Wylie to always be her family, she wanted to let Elizabeth, her birth mother know that she was never bitter at her for giving her up when she was a baby and was actually thankful that Elizabeth gave her a chance at life instead of just having an abortion like many women have done. As they continued to have their conversation, they got to know each other better and informed the other about how their lives turned out.

“Well, I graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Accounting. I married a man who attended college with me. His name was Frank. He graduated the same year as I with a degree in Mathematics. He died a year ago. He had Leukemia Cancer.” Elizabeth replied.

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” Duff replied sympathetically.

Elizabeth looked at her daughter and smiled a genuinely sweet smile. After a brief pause of silence, Elizabeth asked “So, how is everything going for you?”

Duff happily replied “Well, I am planning to attend UCLA in hopes of getting a degree in Nursing. I knew ever since I was a little girl that I wanted to help others when I grew up and being a nurse, I know I could accomplish that. I also am engaged to a young man named Benjamin. He is also going to UCLA. He is planning to major in Psychology.”

“Congratulations on your engagement! I hope you have a blessed, happy marriage. I’m sure you and your fiancé will both do very well at UCLA.” Elizabeth stated.

“Thank you.” Duff said cheerfully.

“You’re welcome.” Elizabeth replied as they both smiled at each other.