Most people didn’t even know Derek Ryder had a mom. When his classmates talked about their parents, Derek would just go silent. He never brought anyone over to his house—not for movies, not for video games, not even for birthdays.
From the first day of primary school to his last day in high school, not a single person had ever stepped inside Derek’s home. When he started dating girls, he made up excuses.
“Look, babe,” he’d say, “my mom’s super strict and really religious. She doesn’t let me date.”
But it was all a lie.
The truth? Derek was deeply ashamed of his mother.
She wasn’t like the moms other kids had. His mom, Gail Ryder, only had one eye. The left side of her face was covered in deep, twisted scars. She looked like something from a horror movie—or at least, that’s how Derek saw her.
But it hadn’t always been that way.
When Derek was little, he didn’t notice anything different. She was just his mom. She tucked him in, kissed his forehead, and made his favorite pancakes every Saturday. But as Derek got older, he saw how people stared at her. He noticed how other moms would flinch or look away when Gail came near, even though she wore dark glasses and a wide hat to hide her face.
One evening after school, he shouted at her.
“I don’t want you to take me to the gate anymore!” Derek said.
Gail looked confused. “But sweetheart, all the moms walk their kids to class. You’re still so small!”
“You’re a FREAK!” Derek screamed. “I heard Bobby’s mom say so! And now everyone will say I’m a freak too because of you!”
That night, something inside Gail broke. She never walked him to school again. Every morning, she’d stop the car far from the school gates, watching silently as Derek walked away. Tears would stream down her right cheek—the only side of her face still whole. Her son didn’t want to be seen with her.
And Derek? He was fine with that.
He told people his mom was a private person, super religious, maybe even a little strange. Anything to keep the truth hidden.
But then came graduation day.
Derek had done well in school—so well, in fact, that he was named valedictorian. The headmaster clapped him on the back.
“Well, young man,” he said, smiling, “I hope we finally get to meet your mother. I want to thank her myself!”
Panic flooded Derek’s chest. No way could he let his real mother show up. Everyone would see her face. They’d know.
So that night, Derek did something shocking.
He found an acting agency online and hired a woman to play the part of his mother. The actress he picked looked exactly like the mom he had always wished for—soft, kind, beautiful, and perfect. He told her what to wear, what to say, and where to pick him up.
On the morning of graduation, Derek came downstairs in his gown and cap. Gail gasped when she saw him.
“Derek! Is it today? Oh, give me a few minutes to get dressed!” she said excitedly.
“Dressed? For what?” Derek asked, his voice cold.
“To come to your graduation, honey,” she smiled.
“You’re not going,” Derek snapped. “I’ve spent my whole life hiding you. Do you really think I want you showing your ugly face on the most important day of my life?”
Gail’s one eye filled with tears. Her voice was barely a whisper. “Derek… how can you be so cruel?”
“Face it, Mom,” he shouted. “You’re a freak, okay? I’ve always been ashamed of you. I hired someone to play your part. Got it?”
She stood still, pale as a ghost. Then she nodded, softly. “Oh, my son… I’m so sorry…”
But Derek had already turned away. He slammed the door behind him and never looked back.
Two weeks later, he moved to California for college. He never called, never wrote. He pushed all thoughts of his mother out of his mind.
Ten years passed.
Then one day, Derek got a call: his mother had died. Her friends had arranged the funeral, but she had left everything to Derek—her house and her entire estate.
“Estate?” Derek repeated, shocked. Sure, she’d sent him money for college every month—always with a letter he never read—but he thought she had nothing left.
When he met with her lawyer, Mr. Terry Arlington, the truth hit him like a wave.
“Well, Mr. Ryder,” said Arlington, “your mother left you nearly $700,000, plus her home, which is now worth over $1.5 million.”
Derek’s jaw dropped. “That’s impossible! She lived so modestly. My father left her, didn’t he? He gave her nothing.”
Arlington looked at him kindly. “It was insurance and compensation.”
“For what?” Derek asked, confused.
“You don’t know?” Arlington asked gently. “When you were three years old, you wandered toward a strange dog in the park. Your mother saw the danger and threw herself in front of you. The dog attacked her. She was mauled badly. Lost her eye. Her face was disfigured forever.”
Derek’s voice trembled. “But… it would’ve been me.”
“Yes,” Arlington said. “Your mother saved your life. I always thought she was one of the bravest, most selfless people I ever met. A true hero.”
Those words hit Derek like a punch to the chest.
He left the lawyer’s office and drove straight to the cemetery. He found Gail’s grave and knelt beside it, his whole body shaking.
“Oh Mom…” he sobbed. “You saved my life. And I treated you like garbage. I was so cruel. I was so wrong… Please forgive me.”
From that day on, Derek changed.
He didn’t hide his past anymore. On his desk at work, he placed a photo of his mother—her big sunglasses hiding the scars, her smile still full of love. Every time he looked at it, he remembered how brave she was… and how heartless he had been.
He told her story to anyone who asked. And he made sure that no one ever felt ashamed of someone they loved.
What can we learn from this story?
Love your parents—no matter what they look like or how others see them.
Derek was ashamed of his mother because of how she looked. But he only learned the truth too late: she was scarred because she sacrificed herself to save him.
Remorse is a heavy burden.
When Derek found out what his mother had done for him, he couldn’t forgive himself. He had lived in shame, while she had lived in love.
Let us never forget that real beauty is in the heart, not the face.
