My mother has a friend named Mrs. Gloria. She recently did such a thing! She rented out her three-room apartment to students, collected her pension, arranged a sale of old things and bought a tour. First she went to Spain and liked it so much that she later visited Egypt, Greece. She especially liked Cyprus. She even joked that she planned to stay there for a long time.
– She doesn’t seem to have enough intelligence in her old age, – said Peter, Gloria’s father-in-law and also my friend.
I’m pretty good friends with Anna, Gloria’s daughter. She and her husband often come to visit me. And today they once again complained about the old woman.
– What makes you think so? – I am surprised.
– Why would she do that? Can’t she take care of her family instead of sunbathing on the beach? Better would have spent the money on repairs! – Peter reproached.
When my husband went into the bathroom, Anna came up to me:
– Mom says that I will also follow in her footsteps and will travel around the world. True, my husband is categorically against it. Like, we have a loan on the car has not yet been paid off. And I really want to go to the sea! More in-laws bore me. After all, while my mom is resting, they have to take care of the little grandchildren. But what can I do? How many times have not said – no use, she does not care about her daughter and little grandchildren!
But I still can’t understand – who came up with this stupid stereotype that a woman should devote all her time to the family? Spitting on her own interests, cooking from morning till night? No, thank you, don’t. Each of us has a dream. So why should we give up in order to please someone?
– Honestly, I was hoping she’d give up her apartment. We get two rooms, she gets one and everyone’s happy. But instead she decided to rent it out. To strangers! Oh, how angry my Peter got. I didn’t speak to him for a few days, and all because of such an impudent act of my mother. At her old age she decided to travel. It would be better if she “rested” in the dacha. In-laws – normal people. But no, my mother spoils everything with her whims. That she wants to fly to the Czech Republic, then she is packing a suitcase to France. Grandchildren will not remember what grandmother looks like!
– Believe me, my friend, things will get better soon. And maybe she will find her love this way? – I tried to lighten the mood. But for some reason it did not work, and my friend only got more offended.
And then I remembered a story. My colleague’s mom after she retired, said that now she was starting to live only for herself. She packed her things, sold her apartment, and moved to live in another country with her sister. There she met a handsome man and a month later they got married. True, her daughter flatly refused to visit her own mother. They don’t even correspond on the phone. And all because her mother is a real egoist. After all, her colleague hoped her mother would play with her grandchildren after she retired.
My mom is in almost daily contact with Gloria, she is now in Italy. She promised that one day she would take her friend with her on a trip. And she shows me how nice it is abroad, in what a beautiful house she lives in, what scenery there. Frankly, I myself am jealous of her. When I get a vacation at work, the first thing I’ll do is fly with my husband on vacation.
However, her daughter Anna still does not understand this behavior. Every time she avoids talking about her mother, she thinks she did the wrong thing:
– If she comes to visit, I will not even let her on the doorstep! If travel is more important to her than family, let her go to her distant lands!
I think Gloria did the right thing. She worked so hard for so many years and now it’s time for some inner peace. And she chose to travel. Anna is an adult now, raising children with Peter. So why does she think her mother owes her? Everyone has a right to personal happiness.
Who do you support in this situation? Why?
