Derek Ryder spent his whole life hiding his mother from everyone. She had one eye and deep scars on her face from an old injury, and Derek was too ashamed to let anyone see her. He never invited friends over, made excuses about her being reclusive or overly religious, and even hired an actress to play his mother at his graduation so no one would know the truth. When his real mother begged to come, he cruelly shut her down, telling her she was a freak and he never wanted anyone to see her.

Two weeks later, Derek left for college and never contacted her again. A decade passed before he was notified of her death. To his shock, she had left him her house and nearly $700,000. Confused, Derek met with her lawyer and learned the heartbreaking truth: when he was three, a dog had attacked him in the park, and his mother had thrown herself between them to save his life. The scars, the blindness in one eye—they were all from that day.

Derek was devastated. All those years he’d spent hiding her, resenting her appearance, and pretending she didn’t exist—he realized she’d lived every day with pain and disfigurement because she had chosen to protect him. She had sacrificed everything for him, and in return, he’d given her nothing but shame.

He visited her grave in tears, begging for forgiveness, and from that day on, he never hid her memory again. He placed her photo on his desk, the one with her oversized sunglasses, and every time he looked at it, he remembered her love, her sacrifice—and the lesson that sometimes, the people we’re most ashamed of are the ones who loved us most.