I planned a road trip with my mom to relive childhood memories and reconnect.

My dad stayed home due to his heart condition

, and my mom seemed thrilled though a little nervous about my own heart issues, which I inherited from him.

We traveled to a lake we used to visit.

Everything felt perfect until I slipped down a slope and hit my head.

I woke up in a hospital, disoriented,

only to overhear a doctor asking my mom about genetic conditions.

That’s when I heard her say something that shattered me:

“I’m not Carly’s biological mother.

”I confronted her, overwhelmed and heartbroken.

She tried to calm me, but my emotions triggered a cardiac episode.

I blacked out. When I woke up again, my dad was crying.

I asked where Mom was.

He said, “Her heart is beating inside you now.”

Mom had made the ultimate sacrifice, giving me her heart so I could live.

She left a letter: “Not for a single day did I think you weren’t my real daughter.

Every time you feel your heartbeat, remember—I love you.”

She may not have given birth to me, but she gave me life in the truest sense.

I will carry her love with every beat of my heart.