A single dad receives a tip about his daughter skipping the school bus and walking miles alone every day. He secretly follows her the next day, unprepared for the tear-jerking discovery he’ll make. The hospital seemed like a grim reminder of the nearing death of a loved one as eleven-year-old Gloria marched behind her dad into the ward to see her mom, Grace. “Promise me, my dear,” Grace whispered. “Promise me he’ll always be strong after I’m gone.
“I promise, Mama,” Gloria cried, holding her mother’s hand. It broke Gloria’s heart because she knew she’d lied, but she was ready to do that if it was what her mother had wanted before peacefully parting into the Afterlife. Deep inside, Gloria believed in miracles and assumed her mom would eventually win her battle with cancer. “Nothing will ever take you away from me, Mom,” Gloria said, but Faye told her otherwise. “Sweetheart, let’s go.
Your mom needs to rest.” Gloria’s dad, Luke, took her outside, and as she stepped out, she turned around to look at her mother, guessing little she would never get another chance to see her again. Grace died a few days later, leaving her beloved daughter devastated in carrying a promise she’d have to keep at any cost. Three weeks passed, but nothing changed in Gloria’s life. She was now sadder but determined to be strong, just like she’d promised her late mother.
“Darling, shall I drop you off at your school, or do you want to go by bus?” Luke asked Gloria. She packed her lunch, getting ready for school. “It’s okay, Dad. I’ll go by bus,” Lou grinned and nodded.
He couldn’t see Gloria’s pain and assumed time would heal everything. But fear kicked in when he got a call from Gloria’s teacher an hour later. “Mr. Adams, this is Alice, Gloria’s class teacher. I wanted to contact you yesterday, but was distracted with work,” she began.
“Good morning, Miss Alice. This call is regarding Mr. Adams. Gloria has been arriving late to school, and she’s been missing her first period. How’s that possible, Miss Alice?
My daughter takes the school bus with her friends. I think there’s been a mistake, sir.” “I asked other kids who take the same bus, their friends told me that Gloria had been skipping the bus lately. I’m not sure what’s going on,” Luke was darnold. “Please do what’s necessary because she doesn’t respond when I ask her why she comes in late.
Luke couldn’t imagine what Gloria was up to because she’d always told him she was taking the bus from the station with her friends. “Why is Gloria skipping the school bus? I need to find out,” the next day, Luke pretended to get ready for work and packed lunch for himself and Gloria. “So, what time’s your bus, Dad? I think it should be on the way.
I’m running late. I gotta go. Bye, Dad,” Luke waved goodbye as Gloria disappeared onto the street and the bus stand. He then silently followed her and saw the bus had arrived, but Gloria took a diversion to a different route. “The bus is leaving.
Why is she not getting on?” Luke saw Gloria heading towards a secluded part of the street. “Why is she going that way?” Luke followed his daughter for several miles. An hour later, he panted and huffed, only to realize they reached her school.
“Why is Gloria walking to school, taking this long, tiring route?” As Gloria was about to enter, her dad’s voice startled her from behind. She turned around in frozen shock. “Gloria, why are you walking to school? Is someone bullying you on the bus?
Tell me why are you doing this?” At this point, Gloria realized she could no longer hide the truth and confessed something that moved her dad to tears. “I’m sorry for lying to you,” she began. “The school bus I take passes near the cemetery. Whenever I ride across, I just can’t hold back my tears.
I promised Mama I’d be strong, and that’s why I walked to school on the other long route daily. I don’t want to cry and make her sad.” Luke turned pale and speechless because Gloria had walked the extra mile to keep her promise to her late mother. He wiped his tears away and hugged her right away. “Darling, go to your class.
I’ll pick you up today because I want to show you something.” Luke was awestruck by Gloria’s willingness to keep her promise and realized it was time to reveal a part of her mother she never knew about. Later that evening, after Gloria returned home from school, “What is it, Dad?” she asked. Luke kept searching for something in the attic.
He climbed down the ladder and gave her an old, dusty diary that belonged to her late mother. “Sweetheart, your mother lost her parents when she was very little. She grew up missing them to the core and suffered emotionally because she couldn’t cope with their loss. She used to write pages and pages in this diary, telling her parents how she missed them. Do you know why your mother asked you to promise you would stay strong?
“No, Daddy.” “Because she wanted you to be happy and not drown in emotions like her. My dear, you don’t have to hold back your tears to keep your promise, but by living happily, you can. Alright? And your mother’s not gone anywhere.
She’s always with us whenever we shed tears of joy, remembering her.” Gloria understood the genuine meaning of her promise. She continued to ride her school by the bus that crossed the cemetery, but she never cried anymore. Instead, she suddenly talked to her mother, promising she would always be strong. Gloria and her dad often visited the late Grace’s grave every Sunday, but they never wept.
Gloria realized her mother was spread around like this guy and was always with her.
