З життя
Порадивши синові розлучитися, бо в шлюбі не клеїлося.
Вадила своєму синові розлучитися, бо у нього не складалося в шлюбі. Він міг би бути таким же хорошим батьком, не живучи з дітьми. Нарешті син прислухався до мене і подав на розлучення. Невістка не могла повірити, що ця ідея була моя, і звинуватила мене у втручанні в їхню родину. Не певна, чи правильно вчинила…
Мій син довго не наважувався шукати наречену, але я не втручалася у це. Нарешті, коли йому виповнилося 30, він знайшов собі пару – Катерину.
Майже щодня я чула, яка вона добра і красива. Нарешті син був щиро закоханий. Я також прихилилася до Катерини. Син з великим захопленням розповідав про неї і мені, і своїм друзям. Вона була ідеальною жінкою для нього, тому він не зволікав і скоро одружився. Я, як любляча мати, звісно, підтримувала його вибір.
Організували справді чудове весілля. У дівчини були дуже гарні батьки, з якими ми одразу здружилися. Спочатку все було прекрасно, але з часом ситуація стала змінюватися. У їхньому шлюбі все частіше виникали непорозуміння. Я усвідомлювала, що це був перший рік шлюбу і їм нелегко. Врешті-решт, усі пари мають притертися одне до одного. Все ж я переймалася, бо хотіла, щоб їхній шлюб був успішним і щасливим.
Того вечора я була дуже стурбована. Пізно ввечері до мого дому прийшов син зі своїми речами. Сказав, що йому ніде переночувати, бо невістка його вигнала. Він провів у мене кілька днів, а Катерина жодного разу не прийшла, щоб владнати ситуацію. Це повторювалося знову і знову.
Коли невістка повідомила, що чекає дитину, я вирішила з ними переговорити. Хотіла від щирого серця дати кілька порад, які допоможуть уникнути непорозумінь надалі. Виявилося, що я лише погіршила ситуацію. Недомовки між ними виникали частіше, а син все частіше ночував у мене. Я знала, що йому дуже важко. Він вже не був тим щасливим чоловіком, в його очах залишилося тільки розчарування.
Я не могла дивитися на страждання сина і запропонувала йому подумати, чи варто залишатися в такому шлюбі. Він міг бути таким же хорошим батьком, живучи окремо. Так і сталося, незабаром він подав до суду на розлучення.
Невдовзі Катерина прийшла до мене з проханням допомогти. Вона благала, щоб я переконала сина скасувати подання на розлучення, оскільки не хотіла руйнувати родину. Я не раз радила їй піклуватися про свою сім’ю. Зізналася їй, що розлучення було моєю ідеєю, і коли вона це зрозуміла, накричала на мене, що я втручаюся в їхнє сімейне життя.
Тепер не знаю, чи варто було мені схиляти сина до розлучення. Невістка не сприймає мене, а син відноситься до мене все холодніше. Здається, вони все ще кохають одне одного. Погано їм, коли вони окремо, але і разом вони теж не можуть знайти порозуміння.
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Why Does It Matter Who Looked After Gran? By Law, That Flat Should Be Mine! — My Mum Argues With Me Over My Grandmother’s Home My Own Mother is Threatening to Sue Me — All Because My Gran’s Flat Went Not to Her, or Even to Me, But to My Daughter. Mum Claims It’s Unfair, Insists the Flat Should Be Hers. But Gran Made a Different Choice. Why? Perhaps Because My Husband and I Lived With Her and Cared for Her Those Last Five Years. You Could Easily Call My Mum Selfish — Her Needs Were Always Far More Important Than Anyone Else’s. Mum’s Been Married Three Times, But Only Had Two Daughters: My Younger Sister and Me. We Get On Brilliantly, But Neither of Us Has a Great Relationship With Mum. I Don’t Even Remember My Dad — He Split From Mum When I Was Two. Up Until I Was Six, I Lived With Mum at Gran’s. For Some Reason, I Thought Gran Was Awful — Probably Because Mum Was Always Crying. Only When I Grew Up Did I Understand: Gran Was Good, She Just Wanted to Help Her Daughter Make a Better Life. Later, Mum Married Again and We All Moved In With My Stepfather. That’s When My Sister Was Born. But After Seven Years, Mum Got Divorced Again. This Time, We Didn’t Go Back to Gran’s. Stepfather Went Off to Work and Let Us Stay in His Flat for a Bit. Three Years Later, Mum Married Husband Number Three and We Moved In With Him. He Wasn’t Pleased Mum Had Children, Though He Never Hurt Us — He Just Ignored Us. So Did Mum. She Was Obsessed With Her New Husband, Always Jealous, Always Causing Rows and Breaking Crockery. Once a Month Mum Would Start Packing, But Stepfather Always Talked Her Round. My Sister and I Got Used to It and Stopped Noticing. I Ended Up Looking After My Sister — Mum Didn’t Have the Time. Thank Goodness for Our Grandmothers, Who Helped Us So Much. Eventually, I Left for University, and My Sister Moved In With Gran. Our Dad Always Supported Her; Mum Would Call Us Only at Christmas. I Accepted Mum For Who She Was and Stopped Expecting Her to Care, But My Sister Never Did. She Was Always Hurt, Especially When Mum Skipped Her School Leavers’ Party. We Grew Up. My Sister Got Married and Moved Away. I Was Living With My Long-Term Boyfriend; We Visited Gran Often and Stayed Close, Though I Tried Not to Be a Nuisance. When Gran Fell Ill and Went Into Hospital, I Visited Every Day: Shopping, Cooking, Cleaning, Chatting, Making Sure She Took Her Medicine. Sometimes My Boyfriend Helped Out Too. After Six Months, Gran Suggested We Move In to Save for Our Own Place, So We Did. Six Months Later, I Was Pregnant. We Got Married, Had a Simple Family Do — Mum Didn’t Come, Not Even a Phone Call. When My Daughter Was Two Months Old, Gran Broke Her Leg. Caring for Both Was Hard and I Desperately Needed Mum’s Help, But She Refused, Saying She Wasn’t Well and Would Come Later. She Never Did. Six Months On, Gran Had a Stroke and Was Bedridden. If Not for My Husband, I Don’t Know How I’d Have Coped. Gran Slowly Improved, She Even Got to See Her Great-Granddaughter Take Her First Steps, and Lived Another Two-and-a-Half Years. She Passed Away Peacefully in Her Sleep. My Husband and I Were Devastated By Her Loss. Mum Only Came for the Funeral. A Month Later, She Tried to Evict Me So She Could Have the Flat. Mum Hadn’t Realised Gran Had Left It to My Daughter Right After She Was Born. Naturally Mum Was Furious, Demanding I Give Up the Flat or She’d Sue Me. “Look How Deceitful You Are! You Duped the Old Woman, Took Her Flat, And Now You Live In It Yourself! You Won’t Get Away With This! It Doesn’t Matter Who Looked After Gran — That Flat Should Be Mine!” But Mum Won’t Get That Flat, I Know That for Certain. I’ve Spoken to a Solicitor and a Notary. We’ll Stay in the Home Gran Gave Us, and If Our Second Child Is a Girl, She’ll Be Named After Gran.
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