For any young mother of a three-year-old, spending the day going to spas, brunches, and movies would be unimaginable. Even eating a candy bar in peace is a luxury not many toddler moms can enjoy. But Jessica was living a life of unusual luxury, thanks to a mother-in-law who loved her like her own daughter.
Jessica had a blissful life, not that she would ever run out of things to still complain about. David, her loving husband, was the most successful lawyer in town. After a decade of hard work, he was finally able to afford the gorgeous house by the lake, two luxury cars, and enough savings to give their precious little daughter the best education in the years to come.
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Jessica was also blessed to have Olivia, David’s mother, in her life, even though she would never admit it. The kind-hearted older woman had moved in the day she found out she was going to be a grandmother.
“Don’t you worry, Jess! I’m going to be here for everything you need, honey,” Olivia would say, kissing her daughter-in-law and gently tapping her baby bump.
Throughout the pregnancy, Olivia single-handedly took care of the household, cooking, cleaning, and caring for Jessica’s diet and health.
“Look, mom!” the little girl cried. “They’re all gone…they’re all dead!”
That was a critical time in David’s career, so he was away on business a lot. He was also away on the day Jessica’s water broke, and Olivia dashed and honked her way through the city traffic to the hospital while Jessica gripped her arm in pain. Olivia had waited outside the labor room for three hours, praying for her daughter-in-law and granddaughter’s health.
“Rose…” Olivia picked the name of her favorite flower for her granddaughter when she first held the delicate being.
That was more than three years ago. And even though Jessica was now in good health and had a lot of time on her hands, Olivia found herself working just as much when she first moved into the house.
The only two things that gave her true joy in the house were her bright-eyed grandchild and the little rose garden she had built from scratch in front of the house.
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The 67-year-old tried to ignore her daughter-in-law’s neglect and self-indulgence as much as she could. It had been a year since she had brought up any argument with Jessica simply because it was too much stress for her son, who felt sandwiched between the two strong-headed women.
But the absence of an engaging mother had started to affect little Rose, and Olivia decided to try and speak to Jessica once again.
“My dear, you know how much Rose loves you. And she’s growing up really fast! Rose needs her mama more and more… The other day, she cried for an hour after you left for a party, and she refused to eat until you came back. When you didn’t return until midnight, the poor girl went to bed hungry…”
Jessica sat on the couch studying her nails and mumbled, “Sounds like somebody is failing as a grandmother…”
Those harsh words pierced through Olivia’s heart, and she found herself speechless. That could have been the end of the confrontation. But looking at her shaken mother-in-law, Jessica was just warming up, waiting to unleash her anger onto the quiet older woman.
That evening, when David returned home early from work, he found his little daughter in a corner of the living room looking scared, tears rolling down her eyes.
He picked her up, wiped her tears, and his heart was overcome with worry. “What’s going on?’ he thought as he entered the bedroom.
That’s when he heard his wife say something that filled him with shock and anger.
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“Get out, you old cow! You are never really going to be part of this family. Especially now that you can’t even look after your own granddaughter without complaining!”
David was fuming, and his heart broke as he found his mother curled up in a chair across the room, eyes lowered, tears dropping onto her old faded dress.
“That’s ENOUGH!” David screamed, pointing his angry finger at Jessica.
“How dare you yell at m—”
“How dare you talk to my mother like that? Who gave you the right to shame her when she’s the only one who bothers to take care of the house and our kid? How dare you raise your voice after spending all my money on parties and clothes and spa days at the cost of being there for your child?”
David realized that just yelling wouldn’t be enough. He knew Jessica had come from wealth and had to be taught the value of money and family the hard way. He emptied her purse of all the cash and credit cards she had taken from him.
“Now,” he sighed angrily, “If you want to continue living this life of luxury, you are going to have to earn and pay for it yourself. No more ‘pocket money’ from your gullible husband. And no more free babysitting services from your mother-in-law. Do it yourself…all of it!”
Jessica was too angry to apologize, so she found a job in a mall boutique the next day. She always thought it was an easy, glamorous job. But by the end of the day, her hands hurt from all the folding and unfolding, her feet were sore from standing around all day, and she had been yelled at by her boss twice for putting the wrong item on the wrong shelf.
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And when Jessica got home every evening, she barely had any energy to play with Rose. It pained her more that Rose preferred to play with her dad and grandma instead. She scolded her fussy girl, fed her somehow, and put her to bed, falling asleep a few minutes later.
And each new morning that week only brought more stress: getting breakfast right, bathing Rose, cleaning the house, getting to work on time…
Still, she thought she could somehow pull off the challenge and prove to David and Olivia how wrong they were.
But one evening, Rose showed her something that sank her heart and made her break down and cry.
“Look, mom!” the little girl cried. “They’re all gone…they’re all dead!” Rose was pointing to the dried-up flowers and shrubs in the rose garden. Jessica had completely forgotten to water the beautiful plants!
“Grandma’s roses…Grandma will be so sad!” Looking at the neglected spot of her house reminded Jessica how painstakingly Olivia had built it. And how painstakingly she had done everything else for her family.
That very night, Jessica apologized to Olivia with all her heart. “I took a lot of things for granted, but most of all, you. I’m sorry, mom! I’m a mess without you…”
“We all are!” David walked into the room with Rose, holding an entire batch of laundry that had turned pink!
From that day onwards, Jessica enjoyed every bit of devoting herself to her family and her work. She did make time to enjoy simple pleasures every now and then, her favorite one being re-building the rose garden with Olivia and surprising her with a bouquet of flowers every week!
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What can we learn from this story?
- Don’t forget the hands that help you ever so quietly. Jessica had taken her mother-in-law for granted without realizing how much her support had meant in her life.
- Sometimes, you don’t truly value something until you lose it. Jessica only understood the importance of Olivia and David’s role in her life when she had to live through a week without any support from them.
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