Veronica’s Parents Gave the Newlyweds a Flat as a Wedding Gift, While Mark’s Mother Only Gave Them a Set of Dishes—And That’s How Their Story Began.

My own Nora only started behaving poorly towards her stepmother after she got married. The reason? Her mother-in-law hadnt chipped in financially for the wedding. The only silver lining was that she and her husband wouldnt be sharing a roof with his mumher family, being wonderfully generous, gifted the young couple a cosy three-bedroom flat in Brighton. In contrast, Marks mother brought nothing more than the most basic, run-of-the-mill set of crockery. To top it all off, she didnt even show up for the painting session, blaming it on some vague ailment. Secretly, Nora was more relieved than disappointed at her absence.

Married life pottered along peacefully until Anna, the much-maligned mother-in-law, fell ill and couldnt manage on her own in her tiny village cottage. Although Nora wasnt keen on the idea of her mother-in-law moving in, there wasnt much else to be done. Anna did her best to help out around the house, but this only grated on Nora moreshe disapproved of just about everything her mother-in-law touched. It was quite obvious Anna felt like a fish out of water. Eventually, once shed regained her strength, Anna quietly packed up and returned to her own home. Nora thought, at last, life might settle back to normal, but fate had other plans. Mark fell terribly ill and, heartbreakingly, couldnt pull through.

Nora struggled through unimaginable pain, only to discover shortly after that she was pregnant. During this harrowing time, the biggest support came from, of all people, her mother-in-law. Losing her only son was an unspeakable sorrow for Anna, but she stood by Nora, helping wherever she could. She comforted Nora and gently reminded her that life does, somehow, go on, and that giving up hope was not the answer. Nora felt overwhelmed, worried shed have to raise a baby on her own, but with her mother-in-laws steadfast encouragement, things seemed a little less hopeless and bleak. Slowly but surely, day by day, life picked itself up, and a year later, Nora welcomed a lovely little girl into the world.

Another year passed, and Nora met an extraordinary man. Even then, she never forgot her mother-in-law, regularly popping round for a visit with her daughter in tow.