Long before the troubles began, young Eleanor cared for her child alone, but later, in her hardship, she found a nannyher former mother-in-law.
Before the divorce, Eleanor had managed everything herself, yet in time, she sought help. She turned to her ex-husbands mother, asking if she knew of anyone who might assist. The woman, of course, offered her own servicesfor a fee. Eleanors wages were meagre; every penny had to be stretched thin.
At work, I knew a woman much like hera colleague who never seemed at ease. She neglected herself, never visiting a beautician, and I often wondered where her earnings vanished. She lived with her parents, free of a mortgage yet burdened in other ways, while her child was watched over by that same mother-in-law. On top of it all, she received alimony.
Still, Eleanor paid her parents for the room she stayed in and handed over more to her former mother-in-law for the childs care. How could it be so?
Half a year earlier, when she first joined our workplace, we became fast friends. It was clear from the start we had much in commonsimilar tastes, children of the same age.
She told me at once of her divorce, how shed returned to her parents home. They were well-off folk, both in their fifties, holding respected positions. They owned a fine country house and spent every holiday abroad. When their daughter came back, they gave her a single room to call her own.
I had assumed she stayed without cost, but nofrom the very beginning, they demanded rent. Eleanor was grateful, at least, to live under her parents roof rather than among strangers. It was better for the child, she said.
They allotted her a shelf in the larder, and she never touched their things, save for the occasional fruit to feed her little one.
I could not fathom it. When she left her husband, she had nothing. Those first months, she owed her parents debts upon debts.
Before the divorce, she had raised the child alone, but afterward, she sought a nursemaid. She found oneher former mother-in-law. At first, she asked if the woman knew of anyone willing, but the offer came swiftly: she would do it herself, for a price. Eleanor agreed, relieved that the woman knew the childs habitswhat he liked, what he hated, what he could or shouldnt be allowed. She was dependable. When needed, the grandmother stepped in.
It might have worked, were it not for the truth: Eleanor had no money to spare. She barely scraped byluxury was a world away.
How could parents treat their own child so? The question lingered, heavy and unanswered.
