I met my first love just after finishing college. I was so overwhelmed by emotions that I immediately started imagining our future together. Before long, we were married. The first real feelings are always the most reckless.
We had a beautiful, grand wedding held at a country manor. Following tradition, the celebrations went on for two days. My mother was overjoyed that I had found my one and only. As a wedding present, she gave me a flat that shed inherited from my grandmother. The flat was in dire need of renovation, but that hardly mattered to us. The only important thing was that my husband and I had a place to call our own.
Mum gave us all her savings, and thanks to her we managed not only to do up the place, but also to furnish it entirely.
It felt like my life had turned into a fairy tale, until the day my father met a much younger woman at our wedding and fell for her. I felt deeply for my mother. She still shared in my happiness, trying to ignore the fact that her own world had been shattered. Dad didnt just leave; he managed to force Mum out of their flat and sold it. Ill never forgive him for what he did to her.
After their divorce was finalised, Mums health took a turn for the worse. Thats when it all unravelledhe left her homeless and cut ties. While Mum was in hospital recovering from a stroke, I searched for a solution. She needed daily care after what had happened.
I decided to bring Mum to live with us so I could look after her and help with everything she needed. Our flat has two bedrooms, about 750 square feet; I thought that would be enough for three people to live comfortably. After the stroke, Mum became withdrawn, spoke little, and struggled to get around.
This situation opened my husbands eyes. He demanded that I find another place for my mother, insisting he couldnt picture life with his mother-in-law and that shed be a constant nuisance. But like I said before, the flat was Mums gift to us, and shed paid for the renovations out of her own pocket.
I didnt argue with my husbandI simply asked him to leave. And you know what? I didnt feel unhappy about it. If a man, right at the very start of your life together, sees fit to treat the woman he claims to love this way, sooner or later, hed leave you for someone else anyway.
After she left hospital, I brought my mum home to live with me, just as Id planned. In the beginning, I felt incredibly low, but I had no desire to see either my father or my husband. Mum is slowly recovering, though shell never be as radiant and full of life as she once was. Still, she is my mother, and its my duty as her daughter to look after her for as long as she needs me. After that, well see where life takes us. In the end, Im grateful that I didnt have a childI could devote myself fully to my mum when she needed me most. Sometimes, it takes adversity to show you the kind of person you truly want in your life and the sort of person you want to be.
