A letter to Queenie- Benjamin’s adoptive mother in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” from his own father Thomas Button.
Queenie, when I left my bizarre newborn at those doorsteps, on that rainy dawn covered in a white baby towel, I guess I paid the right amount by leaving $18 crumpled and wet along with the infant. I never gave a thought then that he may be worth more than my filthy, crumpled bills but trust me Queenie, now I know he is.
You carried him in irrespective of his appearance. You addressed him “baby”, took good care of him, raised him as your own, loved him unconditionally, nurtured him and protected him all along. You gave him the name “Benjamin”.
I saw how worried you were when he came home late once. I remember seeing you cry when he decided to leave the care home to make a living. I heard you reminding him “I want you to say your prayers every night, hear?” I heard your voice rumbling when you said: “Be safe, hear”? You believed in God and the virtue of humanity in all people didn’t you?. Well, he learned that from you.
You recognised Benjamin is a child of God when you laid eyes on him for the very first time. Only because of that I had the privilege of having someone to take me out to experience the first rays of the dawn when I was walking towards the dusk of my life. I am forever indebted to you Queenie.
I know I could only see his deformed body and wrinkled skin. I clearly failed to see what you saw in him. Maybe it is visible only to great women like you and I completely agree when they say “There are a lot of women in this world and Some of them are mothers “ You are one among that special women and truly the best “Mama” Benjamin could ever ask for.
Love and Gratitude,
Thomas Button