З життя
Терміновий дзвінок доньки: тривожні слова, що зупинили час
Все, що вона промовила, це: “Тату, з мамою швидко прийдіть до мене, будь ласка.” І поклала слухавку. У нас із дружиною всередині все завмерло від таких слів доньки.
Забрав свою донечку зі школи. По дорозі додому вона розповідала, яка вона слухняна учениця: виконала всі домашні завдання в подовженій групі. Я одразу зрозумів, що вона не просто так розповідає про свої досягнення. Як я й думав, донька зупинилася, повернулась до мене й сказала: “Тату, я ж була гарною дівчинкою сьогодні. Чи можу я піти з Уляною кататися на роликах?” Я подивився в її оченята і не зміг відмовити. Адже дитинство — найкращий час у житті, тож нехай насолоджується ним, як може.
Поки моя донечка каталася на роликах зі своєю подружкою, ми з дружиною готували вечерю та ділилися новинами дня. Ми так скучили один за одним, що не помітили, як пролетіло дві години. Ми б ще довго сиділи за столом, вдаючи, що готуємо вечерю, якби не задзвонила донька. Все, що вона промовила, це: “Тату, з мамою швидко прийдіть, будь ласка.” І поклала слухавку. Ми з дружиною все кинувши, поспішили на подвір’я нашого будинку.
Вибігши, побачили біля доньки та її подруги двох великих чоловіків. На думці було тільки те, що з ними розмовляти не буду, а перейду до дій. Дружина йшла поруч, тремтячи від страху та переживань за дітей. Вона не розуміла, що вони хочуть від дівчаток.
Підійшовши до них, ми почули, як чоловіки дякують доньці за її вихованість та доброчесність. А коли наблизилися, ті почали хвалити нас, які ми гарні батьки, виховавши таку чудову донечку. Бо вона, така молода, вже допомагає людям, зберігаючи їх від неприємностей. Ми з дружиною стояли нервові й не розуміли, що відбувається. Ми йшли сюди, щоб викликати поліцію та розібратись із покидьками. А познайомились із добрими чоловіками, які нас дякували за виховання доньки.
Виявилось, коли дівчатка грали, вони побачили, що з чоловіка, який виходив з авто, випав гаманець. Чоловік цього не помітив і пішов своїм шляхом. Донечка підкаталася на роликах, взяла гаманець і швидко наздогнала його, віддавши знахідку. Чоловік був дуже вдячний, бо саме того дня отримав заробітну плату, і гаманець був повний грошей. Він почав дякувати доньці та давати сто гривень за допомогу. Але вона злякалась і покликала батьків, бо ми вчили її ніколи не брати нічого від незнайомих людей.
Зрештою, чоловік все одно дав нам ті сто гривень на знак вдячності. Ми з дружиною вирішили передати їх доньці, щоб вона витратила на розваги чи смаколики. Повернулися додому всі разом, повні гордості за виховання такої дитини. Я безмежно радів і пишався нами.
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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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