I want to tell you about my neighbor Linda. She is 68 years old now. She lived alone in her three-bedroom apartment. And recently my neighbor rented out her three-bedroom apartment and went on a trip.
Her daughter came to me and complained about her:
– What is my mother doing? She has let me down so badly! Now my mother-in-law is screaming that I will also disgrace them when I am old. She says the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. And my husband and I just recently took out a car loan! We’re two months behind on our payments. We hoped so much on mom: that she would help us! But my mom let us down: she rented her apartment and went on a trip!
I looked at Alice in surprise: why does her mother have to pay the loan for her husband’s car? Meanwhile, Alice continued:
– My mother-in-law is very angry that we live with her in her apartment, and my mother rented out her apartment!
I understand that Alice is hoping for sympathy from my side. But I think Linde did the right thing. She has the right to live as she wants. Why do people think that if a woman retires, she should devote herself entirely to her children and grandchildren? After all, that’s not right! I so wanted to ask Alice:
– Why don’t you count on yourself and your husband? On your own strengths? Why didn’t you spend 15 years of your married life buying your own home? Then your mother-in-law would not have reproached you for anything.
Alice tells me:
– We so hoped that my mother, when she retires, will go to the country, and my husband and I will leave his three-room apartment!
And I decided to make fun of Alice and said:
– What if Linda gets married, too? She had a friend who went to Turkey on vacation. And there she met a man and married him. And now she lives there happily. Maybe that’s what Linda decided to do, too.
Alice looked at me that way after these words. Recently I saw pictures of Linda on the Internet. She wrote that she was resting well and enjoying life. I was happy for her. I think she did the right thing. Age is not a hindrance to be happy and not a hindrance to new pleasant experiences in life…
