З життя
Син купив квартиру і машину від нас, але перестав спілкуватися з батьками.
В день, коли наш син здійснив свій шлюб, я відчувала величезну радість. Бажала, щоб його дружина стала частиною нашої родини. Думала, що відтепер у мене буде не тільки син, а й донька. Але сталося інакше — невістка віддалила нашого сина від нас. Багато разів чула, як діти змінюються під чужим впливом, але ніколи не думала, що це станеться у нашій родині.
Що стосується нас, ми звичайна родина. Мій чоловік і я — пенсіонери, колишні інженери. Ми вкладали все, що могли, в наше єдине дитя. Він закінчив школу з відмінними оцінками, йому легко давалися точні науки. Інтелектуально розвинутий, спортивний, гарний. Завершив навчання в медичному університеті. Ми бажали йому лише добра, допомогли знайти роботу в місцевій лікарні та медичній академії.
На 27 років в нього було все: відмінна освіта, добре оплачувана робота та наша підтримка і захоплення. Жодних проблем з ним не мали. Кандидатки на роль його супутниці були різними, але потім він щиро закохався. Здавалося, що й вона була в нього закохана, але з незрозумілих причин вийшла заміж за іншого. Це було складно для нашого сина, він сильно переживав, але не довго. Зустрів іншу жінку, але і з нею не склалося. Це його дуже хвилювало. Ми з чоловіком його підтримували, але кожен мусить сам вирішувати свої проблеми… Зустрічі з іншими дівчатами врешті привели його до тієї, єдиної.
Вона повідомила, що чекає на дитину, і вони швидко почали жити разом. Ми з чоловіком раділи за них, але, на жаль, даремно. Невістка виявилася хитрою, намагалася усунути нас з життя нашого сина. В одну мить він став тим, хто не прагнув бачити батьків. Виконував лише її бажання. Мені здавалося, що він нас зненавидів.
Побачили онука вперше, коли йому було три роки. Потім знову тиша. Її матір постійно з ними. Син геть забув, скільки ми для нього зробили. Плачу днями і ночами. Наші друзі кажуть, що вона цілковито контролює його.
Такі речі не мають відбуватися в XXI столітті. Не можу повірити, яким егоїстом став наш син. Він дуже змінився й стає дедалі далі від нас. Не знаю, що робити, і мій чоловік теж у розпачі. Не бажаємо повністю втратити єдину дитину.
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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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