My mom was born in the wrong world

I was about four years old when mom told me that she was born in the wrong world. At the time, I didn’t know what she meant by that, but I am an adult now, and I have lived with the burden of that reality for so long I can no longer deny it. <br><br>I suspect that most of you reading this will be from the *right world* and won’t know what I’m talking about. You see, in the *right world*, my mom was never born. My grandfather was a pilot, and on one fateful day, he crashed into the Colorado mountains, killing himself and my grandmother. Their four-year-old daughter didn’t survive the crash. <br><br>But she did. In my world, she did. And that survival set forth a chain reaction of events, births, and deaths that make my world very different from yours.<br><br>In *my world*, my uncle was never born. He died in the crash. And because of that, the world lost the scientific contributions of a man who discovered a cure for most cancers. He died six days before my birth. <br><br>I was born in my world. And because of that, my twin cousins weren’t. They didn’t die; they simply were never conceived. I understand they are great musicians in your world.<br><br>In my world, mom is not very bright. She was born with brain damage and requires full-time care. My father left when I was five. <br><br>In your world, my mother was an astronaut who discovered life in one of Jupiter's moons. She was never married and, therefore, never had children. I imagine that’s better than the life I have here. I am nothing but a burden, living my life to serve my mother. I have no friends; I have no social life. I don’t even have a job. I dropped out of college in the first year. You see, my mom requires a lot of care. She cannot feed herself; she cannot bathe; she cannot even walk. She has never been able to. I have fed her for most of her life; I have bathed her; I have carried her around. Once I got too tired to carry her up the stairs and her head cracked on the tile floor. She hasn’t been able to talk since then. I have always felt guilty about it. After that accident, I never missed a single day at the gym. I had to be strong enough to carry her around safely. <br><br>There are many differences between *my world* and *your world*. They say that each time a decision is made, the universe splits into infinite branches. Some say that’s not true. I don’t know. I don’t know much about the universe. But what I do know is that my world is very different from yours. I know because I have seen many things through my mom’s eyes. <br><br>I don’t know how it works, but I know that it works.  I’m not even sure if I’m supposed to know, but mom used to talk about it when she was still able. She told me that she had seen many things and lived many lives, but this one was the weirdest. She said that time flows differently in different places. She had lived a hundred lifetimes in a hundred different worlds. She said she had been born and died before the dawn of civilization. She was a vampire in the stone age and an emperor in ancient Egypt. She walked on the moon as an astronaut in the 70s, and she was a powerful queen in a place that wasn’t Earth. I didn’t understand what she meant by that, but I imagine it makes sense if you’ve lived through so many timelines, realities, and dimensions. That’s how mom described it at least.<br><br>In her first life, she was a gargoyle guarding a church in the 13th century. At least, that’s what she said. She didn’t like to talk about that life, so I don’t know much about it. After that, she became a ghost haunting a castle in the middle ages. She lived a long life, but died soon after. In her third life, she reincarnated into a king whose name I can’t remember. He was a mighty leader and conqueror, but he died in battle. He died happily, she said. <br><br>She reincarnated again and again, living a thousand lives in a thousand realities, dimensions, and timelines. She wasn’t always human. She was a vampire, a sea monster, an alien princess, a cyberpunk hacker, and even a god.<br><br>She died a thousand deaths in a thousand different ways. She died for honor, for glory, for her family, and for her country. She died in peace, surrounded by loved ones, and in agony, burned alive. She died in battle and died of disease. But no matter how much she lived and died, she could never let go. She said that there was no end to life, only an infinity of possibilities. She was born in the wrong world.<br><br>She was a Neanderthal who discovered fire. She was an American colonist who died at sea. She was an ancient Egyptian who invented hieroglyphics. She was a samurai in the 16th century and a German soldier in WW2. She was the filmmaker who created science fiction movies in the 20th century. She was a Neapolitan monk who created the most beautiful frescos in the history of Italy. She was the first filmmaker to create an epic movie about alien invasions. She was a Greek philosopher and an African singer. She was an English poet and a Russian ballerina.<br><br>She lived a thousand lives in a thousand realities. She was born in the wrong world.<br><br>She was a Japanese warrior, a Wall Street banker, a film director, a singer, a composer, a prince, a pirate, and an astronaut. She was a superhero in the future, a scientist in the 18th century, a vampire in the 17th, and an executioner in the 16th. She was born in the wrong world.<br><br>She lived a thousand lives in a thousand realities. She was a warrior, a scientist, a poet, a musician, a dancer, a filmmaker, an astronaut, a god, a monster, a born-again Christian, a satanic vampire, a filmmaker, and an astronaut. She was a superhero in the future, a scientist in the 18th century, a vampire in the 17th, and an executioner in the 16th. She was born in the wrong world.<br><br>Sometimes I imagine what kind of world my life has created. I am not an easy person to live with. I have an unkind soul. When I was younger, I was aggressive and violent. I was a thug. I was a low-life. But I was always loyal and kind to my mom. She taught me that. She taught me to be strong. To be resilient. And I learn from her, but I don’t have her strength. I am nothing like her. I am nothing compared to her. I am nothing but a shadow of a person who wasn’t strong enough to live a better life.<br><br>But mom was always so kind to me. Even when I was a thug and a criminal, she encouraged me to be the best person I could. She always saw the good in me. Even when I couldn’t see it myself. But she never judged me. She never told me I was a bad person. She never hit me. She never called me names. She never told me I was worthless.<br><br>My mom always told me that I was loved and that she was proud of me, not matter what. And because of that, I overcame my mistakes. I became a better person. I don’t know what kind of world I may have created with my life. But I know my mom is proud of me, and that’s all that matters.<br><br>She was a born-again Christian in a village in the 19th century. An alien queen who ruled over a planet of born again Christians. A filmmaker who created an epic movie about alien invasions. An executioner who was an alien in the 16th century. A satanic vampire who was a pirate in the 18th. She was a Japanese warrior, a Wall Street banker, a filmmaker, a singer, a composer, a prince, a pirate, and an astronaut. She was a superhero in the future, a scientist in the 18th century, a vampire in the 17th, and an executioner in the 16th. She was a Neanderthal who discovered fire. She was an American colonist who died at sea. She was an ancient Egyptian who invented hieroglyphics. She was a samurai in the 16th century and a German soldier in WW2. She was the filmmaker who created science fiction movies in the 20th century. She was a Neapolitan monk who created the most beautiful frescoes in the history of Italy. She was the first filmmaker to create an epic movie about alien invasions. She was a Greek philosopher and an African singer. She was an English poet and a Russian ballerina. <br><br>After her thousandth life, she was born in my world. A brain-damaged child who could not talk, walk, or even feed herself. Born on the wrong side of things. This is the only life she has not enjoyed. She was the most powerful being in the universe, but in my world, she was nothing but a born-again Christian in a village in the 19th century. An alien queen who ruled over a planet of born-again Christians. A filmmaker who created an epic movie about alien invasions. An executioner who was an alien in the 16th century. A satanic vampire who was a pirate in the 18th. <br><br>She had lived countless lives and countless worlds. But none of them compare to