The car drove leisurely down the slippery road, and Emily kept looking deep into the woods that grew on the sides of the road. In the car was her son at the wheel and her daughter-in-law Inga. Thoughts kept swarming in her head – how could it be that her own son was sending her to an old people’s home? What had she done wrong in raising him? Maybe she didn’t like him enough, but she had always done everything for him and tried to arrange a happy childhood for him. But Anthony always had his own opinion.
One morning he came in with a bag full of various things. Emily was just sitting in the kitchen drinking tea and lean cookies. He came in confidently, threw the package on the floor and said with a smile:
-Well, Maman, get ready for the resort. Get out of your room, you’ll be much better off there.
-What resort, Anthony? What are you talking about?
-To an old people’s home. I’ve already paid for six months of your stay, I’ll pay the rest soon. Your room is great – for you alone, without any roommates. Oh, and the doctors there are great – they will give you massages and injections, and the pressure will always be measured in time. They give food five times a day-even the foreign fruits are sometimes given. In general, Maman, you will find yourself in paradise on earth.
-But, Anthony, I don’t want to go to any resort. I want to be with you, with my family, and die in my home.
-Well, don’t make it up. Inga and I have thought it over, decided and paid for everything. So don’t play tsatsu – get dressed, let’s eat.
Poor mother’s heart ached, a tear rolled down her wrinkled face. And once, when her son Anthony was little and broke his knee, sat in her arms, crying and saying – “Mommy, I will never leave you. His blue eyes gazed deep into her green ones and her mother’s heart was beating so fast, because she believed that her son was her future support. And that’s how it happened. Suddenly, from a little blue-eyed, kind-hearted boy grew soulless Anthony, who, without remorse, sends his mother to a resort called an old people’s shelter.
As we rode in the car, memories of first meeting Anthony’s father kept surfacing. Memories of how they fell in love at first sight with each other, how they planned their home and kids. And then he, her first love died when Anthony was already six months pregnant in her belly.
“Husband, who did you leave me for? Who?” – The thoughts and appeals to her lost love grew louder and louder in her mind, and her throat choked with tears of hurt and pain.
