I accepted the judges’ invitation and decided to take my students to a bigger city.

I assumed my mother would worry or oppose the idea.

But she simply nodded calmly after hearing the news.

“Go. Only a fool would pass up such a great opportunity.”

The night before our departure, she went to bed unusually early.

I thought she was angry and speaking in reverse.

But to my surprise, the next day, her luggage was all packed.

She said, “Wherever you go, your mother goes too.”

A lump formed in my throat, and I nearly cried but then laughed when she suggested a “family relocation.”

The high-speed train station was...