Well, when a child is conceived, the DNA split is 50/50 from both parents. Except for one small detail: mitochondrial DNA. It’s passed down only through the mother and never through sperm.
Which means something interesting: all living humans can trace their mitochondrial line back to one woman, not one man.
And every daughter born continues passing that same line forward.
Happy Mother’s day
I kept texting my ex-coworker after she quit. Just memes. Funny stuff from the office. “You’re missing this chaos.” She’d reply with laughing emojis. We did this for months. Then she stopped responding. I figured she moved on. Made new friends. Forgot about our inside jokes.
Kept sending memes anyway. Once a week. No responses. Just kept going. Felt stupid but couldn’t stop. She’d been my work best friend. Only person who got my humor.
Six months of silence. Then one day. “I’m so sorry I haven’t replied. I’ve been in treatment. Depression got really bad after I left that job. Your memes were the only thing that made me smile some days. I’d read them in group therapy. Saved every single one. They kept me going”
I sat at my desk crying. Had no idea she was struggling. No idea those stupid memes mattered. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She replied. “I couldn’t tell anyone. But knowing you were still thinking of me. Still trying to make me laugh. It helped more than you know”
We meet for coffee now. Once a month. She’s doing better. Showed me her phone. Folder labeled “Hope.” Every meme I sent. Hundreds of them. “On bad days I scroll through these. Remind myself someone cared enough to keep trying.”
I still send memes. But now she responds. And now I know they matter more than I thought.
—Jake M., Texas