## **“Those Who Remained”**

### I. A Beginning That Didn't Feel Like a Beginning

Maria didn't remember the day she was left alone. But she did remember the moment she stopped being someone's. It happened quietly, without suitcases or drama. Her husband simply stopped coming home early. Then he stopped coming home at all.

She was left with two children, a job at a grocery store, and an apartment that suddenly felt too small. She was thirty-four years old and felt like she had failed at something, though she couldn't quite put her finger on what.

People said, "You're strong." They didn't know that strength was a necessity, not a choice.

### II. Children

Her older daughter, Ola, grew up quickly. Too quickly. She stopped asking, started helping. She cooked, looked after her brother, and didn't cause any problems. Maria was grateful—and at the same time, she felt ashamed that she was robbing her child of her childhood.

Her younger son, Kuba, reacted differently. He was angry. At everyone. At her mother, her father, the school. He withdrew into himself, and his silence was louder than her screams.

Maria had no time for psychologists or long conversations. Life had to go on.

### III. Work and Fatigue

She worked two shifts. In the morning, she worked at the store, in the evening, she cleaned offices. Sometimes she got the days mixed up. Sometimes she couldn't remember the last time she slept without an alarm clock.

She started getting sick. First her back. Then her heart. The doctor talked about stress, but he didn't offer a solution.

"Get some rest," he said.

He didn't know that rest was a luxury.

### IV. The Man Who Made No Promises

Andrzej showed up by chance. He was a delivery driver, delivering goods to the store. Older than Maria, he'd been through a lot, calm. He didn't flirt. He didn't pressure.

They started talking. First about the weather. Then about the children. About being tired.

Andrzej didn't promise that everything would be alright. He simply came. He helped fix the faucet. He took Kuba fishing. He sat in the kitchen while Maria fell asleep at the table.

They hadn't been a couple for long. They were a presence.

### V. Growing Up and Leaving

Ola went to study in another city. No sentimentality. Maria cried at night, but she was proud during the day.

Kuba fell in with the wrong crowd. There were truancies, police, fear. For the first time in her life, Maria screamed so loud her throat hurt.

Andrzej only said:

"Let's not run away from him."

They stayed. Together. Even when things were at their worst.

### VI. The Father Who Came Back Too Late

The children's father contacted them after years. He wanted contact. Meetings. Explanations.

Maria didn't know whether she felt anger or indifference. The children reacted differently. Ola was polite. Kuba was hostile.

You can't go back to the life you left—everyone understood that, but each at a different pace.

### VII. A Body That Says "Enough"

Maria had a heart attack at work. A minor one, but enough to stop the world. She woke up in the hospital, with Andrzej sitting next to her bed.

"I got scared," he said.

For the first time.

After leaving the hospital, Maria had to slow down. Learn to rest. Learn that not everything depends on her.

It was harder than drudgery.

### VIII. Time Does Its Own Thing

Years passed. Ola put her life back together. Kuba got back on track, slowly, crookedly, but at his own pace.

Maria and Andrzej never married. They didn't need confirmation. They were together in a quiet, labored way.

Sometimes Maria thought about who she could have been if life had turned out differently. But she felt less and less resentment.

### IX. An Ordinary Ending

On Sunday mornings, they drank coffee in the kitchen. No rush. No grand plans. The house was a bit worn, and so were they.

But they were.

Maria realized that her life wasn't a story of success or failure. It was a story of perseverance. Of staying when it was easiest to leave.

And that—though no one will write books about it—was enough.

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