My former mother-in-law is following our family.
My ex-mother-in-law, Margaret, is 52 years old and shes the mother of my late wife, Emily. I got married when I was 23. Emily fell pregnant just before our wedding, and we had a daughter, Grace.
Two years later, tragedy struck and our lives turned upside downEmily became gravely ill and passed away not long after.
Suddenly, it was just Grace and me. I decided to move to another city, to be closer to my parents. It made sense; I was working long ten-hour days and they could help care for Grace. That was the arrangement.
Not long after, I got promoted and managed to buy a house half an hour away from Mum and Dad. From then on, Grace was taken care of either by my parents or by a nanny I hired (I insisted they took some time off occasionallyI didnt want them to feel burdened). Now, Grace is eight years old.
Margaret then decided to move to the city I was living inapparently to be nearer to her granddaughter. If Im honest, that was a rather surprising decision. Not because I couldn’t understand her reasonsEmily was her only child, and Grace is now her only grandchildbut because she moved all the way from the other end of the country!
Alright then, I thought. She probably doesn’t want to be alone.
But ever since Margaret arrived, things have gotten difficult
For starters, she spends most of her day in my house. Yes, all dayeven when I come home from work. And as if that wasnt enough, she started showing up every weekend too Well, showing up doesnt really capture itshes there, from morning until night.
Shes still around even after Grace has left for school. These are some of her favourite reasons:
If someone doesnt keep this place tidy, itll be a pigsty in no timehonestly, men never notice what needs doing around the house.
Those houseplants are looking terribly droopy, just a few more days and theyll be dead!
Thereve been reports of burglars in the neighbourhood, but theyre hardly likely to try anything while Im here.
Dont fret, I wont be after your money.
Sometimes I genuinely think she believes her daughters spirit is living with me in my houseIve overheard her talking to thin air more than once, as if Emily had come back.
After many conversations about boundaries, I found her behaviour increasingly embarrassing and felt my personal space was being entirely invaded. Shed nod along and pretend to hear my concerns. But nothing changed.
Last week, it all came to a head. The thing is, Ive been seeing someone for over a year and a half. That weekend, Grace was staying over at my parents house, so I invited my girlfriend round.
We had dinner, watched a film, relaxed on the sofa Suddenly, I hear a faint clatter and some shuffling in the hallway. I look up in alarm, only to see the shadowy figure of Margaret, who evidently thought nothing of letting herself in without so much as a knock or a call.
Was it an emergency with the houseplants again?
Before I could say a word in outrage, Margaret laid in to mefurious, accusing me of betrayal and disrespect towards my late wife.
I was dumbfounded by her brazenness. I marched over, told her exactly what I thought, took back her house key, and told her to leave at once:
Youre not welcome here anymore!
Margaret has nobody else, and a few peopleincluding my own parentshave said I should reconsider, out of decency. I suppose Ill have to find some compromise and let Grace visit her grandmother from time to time, as she is family. But as for my homeit will remain an unbreachable fortress. That’s final.
