I was about 16. There was a knock on the door and I was to be the one that opened the door. To my shocked, a woman who looked just like my mother stood at the door. She introduced herself as my mother's sister. I graciously asked her to wait while I called for my mother. My mother came down and when she saw her sister, she was mad and she made sure her sister was well aware that she was pissed! I don't remember who opened the door to let her in but I sat and watched in amazement. Not knowing the significance of what was being transpired infront of me. I was caught completely off guard.

Her sister at some point explained why she hadn't contacted my mother earlier. She was married young and had children. A lot of children and she didn't have the resources to reconnect with my mother. Now that her children are older, she was able to trace my mother and made her way there. My mother certainly did not welcome her.

After her departure, my mother spewed venom of hatred. She claimed that as a little girl, she had written countless letters to her sister, begging for her to save her from her adopted family, and she didn't. My mother was so angry that she disregarded what it took for her sister to even find her. She disregarded her sister's own struggle.

According to my mother, her earliest recollection of her childhood was being taken to a market to be sold. Her father married off the eldest daughter (the aunt that visited) and sold the younger 2 girls to a family. My mother was sold  to a single nurse as a daughter while her 2nd sister was sold to be the family helper. Apparently the 2nd sister eventually eloped with the one of the sons and left. As for my mother, her fate apparently changed when my grandmother got married and have children of her own. My mother was to quit school and care for her younger siblings, which she resented. She claimed that at the age of 18, she was kicked out of the house and she ended up staying with a missionary until she met my father.  

I used to attribute a lot of her foolishness to her past. But as the years went on, I feel less and less convinced. I catch myself doubting her story. She was so good at lying and making convincing claim, who knows where the truth lies, or even if any of it is the truth.

A few years later, after I left to join the airline. My mother actually made a trip to visit this sister. Sounded like she had a good time visiting with her sister and her family. I don't believe there was another trip after that. But it was soon after that, my parents moved in with my oldest brother to help him with his children. That was the beginning of a downward spiral.