A friend of mine asked in surprise, I wonder why your husband didn’t receive anything, then? Their grandchildren could really do with some help, too!
Oh, who knows what really goes through their minds? I replied. The youngest one is single and already has a three-bedroom flat in Richmond, plus two more two-bedroom places. And he owns a three-storey house in the country! Yet, apparently, that’s still not enough. His parents gave him all of that! Meanwhile, my husband was left with nothing.
John and I have been married for twelve years, with two children, aged six and ten. I have always struggled with my in-laws, who would constantly interfere and try to dictate how we should live our lives. It was bad enough that my mother-in-law criticised every choice I made and insisted I call her mum.
I already have a mum, I dont need another, I firmly told her, refusing to bend to her controlling ways.
The real trouble started after our eldest daughter was born. Victoria, my mother-in-law, began turning up at our home unannounced, but I simply wouldn’t answer the door or her calls. Eventually, she seemed to realise how overbearing she was being and finally stopped meddling in our lives.
I’ve managed with the children just fine, supported now and then by my own mum. As the children grew, we moved even further from their paternal grandmother, putting some well-needed distance between us.
Johns parents are genuinely wealthy and clever people, who love to travel, organise art evenings and dine with their friends in lovely restaurants. They barely ever spoke to us even during holidays it would turn out, sometimes last minute, that they were away.
And then, out of nowhere, John and I learned that his parents had decided to leave everything to his younger brother. I couldnt let it go, so I called my mother-in-law to ask her to explain.
What did you expect? she replied. You kept me from seeing my grandchildren, and you turned John against us. My youngest, though, never forgot us! He calls and visits, so he’s the rightful one to inherit. Its only fair.
Do you agree with the choice his parents made?
