An aunt once came to visit Arthur from out of town. A very unexpected visit. However, she also called: “I’m already on the train, on my way. The money was only for a ticket to you. Think of something.” What is there to think of? We didn’t have extra money planned for her return trip.
We had just recently bought a car, my dad had a stroke, and we were remodeling the house. While driving home from the station, my aunt wanted to get out and look around. After all, you can’t go visiting without presents. Arthur found a place to park and took out a newspaper to read while my aunt walked around. But she decided everything in her own way.
Since she arrived without money for the trip home, she had no money to buy presents either. Arthur had to accompany her through the aisles and pay for her purchases. In addition, he had to listen to his aunt’s opinion of each vendor. Only she didn’t go any further, but made the clerk find her something he didn’t have. But, having driven the seller to a nervous breakdown, she politely smiled and went on.
What was all that for? And the men’s things for whom? After all, she had planned to buy gifts for women only. It turned out that the enterprising aunt had decided to buy men’s things to sell later in her town to pay for her trip. But it was Arthur who paid!
After arriving at our house, my aunt began to establish their own rules. She said that she was an extremely light sleeper and went to bed early, so at ten everyone should go to bed and not disturb the guest. During breakfast, my aunt expressed outrage that someone had flushed the toilet three times during the night. And on Sunday she had planned a trip to the woods for mushrooms. She really liked where she had picked mushrooms the last time she visited. But that was over ten years ago.
Arthur tried to say that there are better places now, but his aunt dismissed all objections. As a result, in the seven hours that this trip took, only a small bucket of mushrooms was collected and twenty liters of gasoline were spent. My aunt was not happy, but of course it was Arthur’s fault. He had the wisdom not to argue with the woman.
Arthur told me this story over the phone: he needed to speak out. And my nephew was convinced of how beneficial kinship love can be. But only from a decent distance.
