My parents lived in London while I had settled in Manchester.
It had been more than two decades since we last set eyes on one another. They were both artists, performing with a folk choir, and their lives revolved around endless tours across the country. When I was just five years old, I went to live with my grandmother. To ease the burden on her, she later moved in with relatives in the Yorkshire countryside. At first, my mother and father would visit once or twice a year, though occasionally three times, but as the years passed, their visits grew more and more infrequent. In the end, our contact dwindled to nothing, and I stopped thinking of them altogether. When I started studying medicine, I married during my third year at university.
Now my husband and I run our own dental practice, and we do very well financially. Then, just a year ago, my parents reappeared out of the blue. They began ringing the surgery, as they didnt even have my personal telephone number. Our conversations consisted mostly of their complaints about how difficult their lives had become.
I listened to all their grievances and calmly reminded them that the life they led now was a consequence of the choice they made long ago when they left their daughter to be raised by her grandmother. Every so often, my parents would send grandmother a few pounds, but for the most part, she and I got by on her small pension. She often reminded me of thisthough, truly, I hardly needed telling, for we had to be careful with every shilling.
Thanks to my hard work at school, I was able to win a place at university without paying tuition fees. Yet to afford daily expenses and clothing, I worked nights as a nurse at the hospital. I now feel that my life belongs to me, just as my parents life belongs to them, and they must find their own way.
When my mother and father realised I was not about to step in and help them out, they began threatening to take legal action for financial support. However, given the present circumstances in the country, I seriously doubt they will manage anything of the sort. Their threats finally closed the door between us for good. If ever I had second thoughts or an inkling to help them financially, my resolve is now firm: I want nothing more to do with them.
I still wonder whether I am justified in this, or whether I have been too hard on my parents.
