**Monday, 15th April**
Lately, my daughter separated from her husband and moved back into our cramped flat with her little one. Its been an adjustmentjust my husband and me in such a small space. Id hoped she might stay with my mother while on maternity leave, but thats impossible now. Mum, at 68, has gone and remarried, settling down with her new husband.
When she first rang to say she was getting married, I thought she was joking. Sixty-eight, for heavens sake! But noit was real. Shed been alone for years after Dad passed two decades ago. I was 35 when I left home, and though I visit her a few times a month, shed always managed perfectly well on her own. My husband and I would help with the garden or chopping firewood, but she took care of everything else.
Now shes brought a man into her house. It feels like a betrayal! She shouldnt have done this to us. Her fiancé is some old flame from her youthsomeone she reconnected with years later. They had a quiet registry office wedding in early July, followed by a modest lunch at a pub with just close family. We didnt go. Honestly, its embarrassing! What was the point? She couldve carried on just fine without it. Im dead against this marriage and still cant make peace with it.
Now they live together in her spacious housea house that shouldve stayed in the family. Hes got nothing to his name, just three grown children and a slew of grandchildren. Why would she do this? How could she? Now that theyre legally wed, he could lay claim to our inheritance. Meanwhile, were stuck in this tiny flat.
My daughters divorce has left her with nowhere else to go, so I help with the baby. My son rents a place with his girlfriend. Id thought Mums home couldve been a temporary refuge for my daughter, but noMum had to start a new chapter instead.
We didnt speak for months. Then my auntMums sisterphoned from the countryside and scolded me. Said we were being unfair, that Mum deserves happiness too. That we ought to be happy for her. Worrying about inheritance while shes still alive is in poor taste. But she doesnt understandwhat if, instead of Mums house, were left with some stranger of a stepfather and his needy relatives, all clawing for their share?
Im not wrong here. Mum is.
