Women in charitable homes mourn on Mother’s Day

JEDDAH — When most of the Arab world celebrated Mother's Day on March 21 in recognition of women's status and role in society, Saudi mothers living in charity homes mourned the day because their children had abandoned them. Despite the harshness of the situation, they remained hopeful and were full of love, compassion and spirit for sacrifice. Umm Saleh, who lives in one of the charitable homes in Jeddah, shared her story, saying: "I have one son who got married and have four children. I used to live with him in a small house, consisting of two rooms. The space was not enough to accommodate us all. I chose the charity to make room for him and his children to live their lives in freedom and happiness. I suddenly felt that the house was not welcoming me. Here I continue my journey alone." Umm Nayef said she has two sons and a daughter. "All of them are married and their businesses do not generate a lot of money, which made life tough on them. Every time I visit them, they get irritated with my presence. It made me distressed. So I decided to come to the charity to spend the rest of my life away from the discomforts. They visit me from time to time and it makes me happy." Umm Khalid struggles with her bitter experience. Her only son had died in a traffic accident, leaving her alone with nobody to fall back on. She lives in the charitable home fighting her loneliness. "I had a son and fate took him away from me in an instant. He used to make me happy, take me to places and buy me wonderful things. After his death, I could not find a place that would take me in and so now I live here in a good condition even though the memory of Khalid gives me sleepless nights," she said. Umm Abdullah used the help of one of her neighbors to get leave behind the suffering she was in. She had trouble digesting the wives of her five sons. "My five sons work in good jobs and make a lot of money, but they listen to their wives who enjoy harassing me whenever I visited one of them. I asked my neighbor to help me register into the charity home in an attempt to distance myself from them. Since then they gave me up and left me alone here. Despite that, I still love them and I want them to be happy in their lives".