Dear daughter-in-law,
Welcome to the fold. All this time I had to shoulder the
responsibility of looking after my son.
I’m glad you have come to take over. For years now he had turned to me
at every step. As a child, he brought
all his ‘battle’ wounds from the playground, to me to dress. More than the
medicine, he regarded my concern, my kiss, as the healing touch.
He ran to me when his pride
was hurt or his desires spurned. I had
to console him and also convince him that life is not smooth sailing all along-
that one has to take the rough with the smooth.
Mind you, all these without letting him feel that I’m no friend of his.
He would be up to all kinds
of tricks getting into trouble with his teachers, our neighbours, and his
father. I had to shield him without tact
and diplomacy to bring him to the right path. His studies, his extra circular activities,
his social outings- what a job it was to get him to view each in its proper
perspective.
Feeding him has been a
challenge to my culinary prowess. When
he was a child, I had to marshal all my imagination to cook up tales to divert
his mind. I had to become mama bear,
Jack on the beanstalk, the wolf, Snow White… As he grew up, I had to cook a
variety of delicacies to cope with his appetite.
When he fell sick, I sat by
his beside and prayed… every sneeze, every sniff of his would make me
anxious. Many sleepless nights I soothed
his fevered brow and whispered endearments as he clutched my fingers. Yes… it
has been both agony and ecstasy. I have
found fulfillment in seeing him grow… from child to boy to man. Now I’m tired. I want to sit back and pray, to thank God for
his many mercies. But my son still needs
a woman, someone who can give him unsullied love; some one whom he can turn to
for comfort and solace; someone whom he can trust; someone who will egg him on
to achieve the best in life. I’m glad he
has found that someone in you. I know you will take care of your husband the
way he will take care of you. I have
traversed the ‘miles’ I had to and kept ‘my promises’. Now it’s your turn. You will have my blessings all the time and
my counsel when you want.
If my son has a tendency to
talk highly of me or often refer to my cooking, don’t feel threatened or
offended. You can’t expect a man to shake off the shackles of a relationship,
which was bound with an umbilical cord.
Don’t call him a ‘mama’s boy in disdain, if he wants to consult me at
any time. The love he has for you is
unshakable. The love he has for me is so
too. One has nothing to do with the
other. Keep it that way.
You and I have one thing in
common- our love for him. Like all the
rivers that flow into the ocean, let us also pool our love.
With all good wishes,
Your mother-in-law.
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