Lately, my daughter got divorced and moved back with her little one into our cramped flat.
Recently, she split from her husband and settled in with us, though we barely have spacejust my husband and me in this tiny place. Id hoped she could stay with my mum while on maternity leave, but thats impossible now. At 68, Mums gone and remarried, living with her new husband.
When she called to say she was getting wed, I thought it was a joke. Sixty-eight! But noit was real. Shed been alone for years, widowed two decades back. I left home at 35, built a life with my husband and kids in the city, visiting her a few times a month, holidays included.
Thank God, shes healthy, manages the house herself. My husband and I help with the garden or chopping firewood, but she handles the rest. Now shes brought a man into her home. It feels like a betrayal! She shouldnt have done this to us. Her fiancé was an old flame from her youththey reconnected years later. In early July, they had a quiet registry office wedding, a modest dinner with close family.
We didnt go. Frankly, its embarrassing. What did she need this for? She couldve lived without it. Im dead against the marriage, still cant accept it. Shes got a proper house, and now hes moved in.
Hes got nothingno assets, just three kids and a flock of grandkids. Whyd she do it? How could she? Now theyre legally married, hes got a claim on our inheritance. Were stuck in this shoebox flat, and my daughters crammed in too, her little one in tow. My sons renting with his girlfriend. Id thought my daughter could stay with Mum awhile, but noMums off living some second youth.
We didnt speak for months. Then my auntMums sisterrang from the countryside and scolded us. Said we ought to be happy for her, that she deserves joy. Worrying about inheritance while shes still alive? Rude. But she doesnt understand.
What if, instead of Mums house, were left with some stranger of a stepdad and his brood of down-and-out relatives, all clawing for their share? So no, Im right in this. Mums the one whos wrong.
