At Mother’s Day couple of months back, I met some mothers whose love goes beyond anything that words can express. They show the true strength of motherhood in a way that is rarely seen up close. Around noon, I visited the RRM Autism Therapeutic School in Hoshiarpur and met autistic children. Autism is a condition that affects how they communicate, connect with others, and see the world. I thought the children would move me, and they did. But what I remember most are the mothers waiting outside the school gate for hours.One mother had been waiting since eight in the morning. She packed her son’s breakfast in a green tiffin, not blue, because blue made him uneasy. Every morning, she practised the school routine with him seven or eight times, always in the same order, until he felt ready to go. She shared this with me in a calm voice, showing she had learned to love her child just as he was.Another mother told me she left a project management career she had worked hard to build. She did this because her daughter needed her full-time, something no office schedule could allow. “She needed me to become her timetable,” she said, giving a small smile and looking down.A third mother would drive around 55 km from a village near Mukerian three times a week, often leaving before dawn so her son would not miss even ten minutes of therapy. When I asked how she handled the tiredness, she just shrugged. “Bache di sehat de saamne thakan da ki hisaab (No fatigue is bigger than my child’s health),” she said. She did not feel sorry for herself; she had decided long ago what was most important.I also realised that how important a school like this is for a town like Hoshiarpur. In a small Punjab town without the resources of a big city, the RRM Autism Therapeutic School is often the only option for many families. Therapists told me about families who used to drive two or three hours from Chandigarh or Ludhiana for just one session.Places like this may not make the news, but they quietly support many families in small towns. For these mothers, that steady support is everything. It is what allows for love to show up at the gate every day.Sangeeta Mittal, HoshiarpurTribuneindia.com invites contributions to SHAHARNAMA. Share anecdotes, unforgettable incidents, impressionable moments that define your cities, neighbourhoods, what the city stands for, what makes its people who they are. Send your contributions in English, not exceeding 450 words, to shaharnama@Jattvibemail.comDo include the name of your city and your social media handles (X/ Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn)