When a “I’ll be back in 10 minutes” become 13 years

I’ve always lived with the idea to have a family. Two old parents, a little brother and two older sisters. One sister is Andreea and she’s 37, the other one is 33, but she left home when she was young. Antida is only 16 years old, but she is a smart girl and she shows most of the years that she has. Her eyes, often covered by glasses in John Lennon style, transmit curiosity and a desire to live.

Antida doesn’t know her father, but she remembers very well her mother and the day on which she left her and Dodo, her younger brother, in Pitesti, a city in southern Romania, where she still lives. When I was 3 years old and my brother was 1, my mother left home, forever. I still remember the last day, the day on which she left us. I asked to her where was she going. “I’m going to the store, I’ll be back in 10 minutes”. And those 10 minutes turned into 13 years of waiting for her to come back.

It all started one day, when my “mother” found out that I had started my sexual life. She came to me angry and she said “You know, Antida I really love you, but I don’t want you to make the same mistakes of your real mother”. I was very shocked to hear those words and I started to cry. I couldn’t believe it and I wanted to know more details about my life.

My mother was a really beautiful girl, she was smart and sociable. When she was 16 she fell in love with a mysterious guy and she ran away from home. After a year she came back alone, with a big belly: it was me. I was born when she was 17 and when she was 18 she ran away again with another man. Again, she came back home pregnant. It was my little brother Dodo. After one year she left home forever.

This is my story… I hope to find her one day. I’m praying for her every day. Antida doesn’t lose hope and waits for the right moment to go in search of her mother, despite not knowing where she is, or if she’s still alive. Day by day she lives with the smile and the thought that despite the choices made, her mother still loves her and will be happy to hug her when, in an unknown place and moment, she’ll be able to find her to tell her again Hello mom!

Andrea Cuminatto