Calling Her ‘Mom’: The Word I Couldn’t Say
On the day I married Jake, I vowed never to call his mother ‘Mom.’ The word felt sacred, reserved for the woman who raised me, yet over the years, that decision would shape my marriage, my relationship with my in-laws, and even my own sense of family. This is the story of how one word—’Mom’—became the center of my deepest conflict and transformation.