I spent half my life alone. Oh, I had been married once, but my husband walked out a year after our wedding, just after our daughter was born. At least Peter did one decent thinghe left us the three-bedroom flat. I never planned to marry again. I wasnt truly alone, anyway. I had Lillian to raise, and that was trouble enough.
I knew Id done my best, yet Lillian still lacked a fathers presencesomething I could never give her. As she grew, she clung too tightly to every lad she fancied or courted, and not all took kindly to such devotion. More than once, I soothed her tears and mended her broken heart. But fortune smiled at last, and she met Daniel.
He was steady and kind, the sort any mother would wish for her daughter. He respected me, adored Lillianwhat more could I want? For a time, I thought him the perfect son-in-law. But fairy tales never last. Six months into their marriage, Daniel changed.
Meanwhile, I cared for my own mother. Shed had me young, just as Id had Lillian, so she lived to see her granddaughter. But age wore her down, and soon she was too frail to live alone. What else could I do but take her in? Yet my son-in-law bristled at the arrangement.
I never understood his anger. He wasnt the one tending to herthat burden fell to me alone. And my mother was no trouble, sharp as a tack till the end. Still, Daniel grumbled.
Matters only worsened. Soon, Lillian turned cold too. Where we once shared meals, now they shut themselves away. I tried speaking to her, but she gave only excuses. Silence filled the house.
They showed no interest in grandchildren, either. “Were living for ourselves,” they said. I pressed at first, then let it be. Their choice, not mine. But Daniel grew bolder, acting as though he owned the place. He never lifted a finger to fix a thing, yet vanished nightly with his mates to the pubs. Where was the decent man Id welcomed?
Perhaps this was his true nature all along.
With each week, he grew more unbearable. Then came New Years EveDaniel refused to celebrate with us. He dragged Lillian to their room, leaving Mother and me alone. At midnight, Lillian crept out to wish us well, but Daniel never showed his face.
The next morning, he stood before me and said, “Were selling your mothers house to buy our own flat.” I was stunned. Hadnt they lived under my roof for half a year, at my expense? Was that not enough?
“No,” I snapped. “Earn your own way. Thats my mothers home. Well sell nothingits hers to decide.”
Daniels face darkened. By evening, hed packed their things and taken Lillian to his parents house.
It hurt that my girl never spoke a word against him, but her life was her own. If she believed this path would make her happy, so be it.
Did the woman do right?
What would you have done in her place?
