My mother-in-law died at the age of 86. Her absence still makes me sad. She loved herself so much and loved gold and money more than her own memory. She never went to school, but her kids studied in USA after graduating from India. She used to say that she did not feel any need to learn how to read and write. All her kids went to school and could read a letter sent by her son from USA. Her eldest son (gold medalist from Engineering College, Patiala) came to USA for higher studies. In 1980 phone calls were expensive. Saving money from scholarship, he called his mother once a while and she was happy with that. When she did get a phone, she was happy to receive the calls despite how expensive it was for each of them. (In India they started a service at post office for collect call (meaning the person can pay in dollars from USA to call somebody when call is booked by the receiver). When I shared this post with my husband, he told me that one day his father sat at the post office for 6 hours to attend a call from his son.
She was even saving cookies her son brought for her. She believed that they were from the States and used to tell it to everyone. But, they were actually made in Denmark— they were Danish cookies. Eventually the cookies reached past their expiration date, but she kept them for special guests (with good intentions). When all the cookies were eaten, she kept the box as if it were made of some special metal.
Her son sent for her white shoes and socks. She gave the shoes to her other son living in India, but they did not fit him. When she tried to put them on me, they didn’t fit either. She wore the shoes herself. However, she worried that they would get dirty too soon, so she saved those shoes for years.
Though she was not wealthy, she lived a rich life. Her eldest son applied for her visa and green card . Finally after waiting for four years she came to see him and his family while wearing those same white shoes and a suit, sitting in a wheelchair. Though she did not know how to hold a passport, she knew it was precious for her to see her family. She became a US citizen at age 80 learning five answers as asked and a translator was arranged for her test. She knew only a few words of English but made so many friends who could help her when needed. At least 2oo people collected to say good bye to her. She talked a lot and blessed everyone she met! She did not know how to drive but sat in most expensive cars and visited every attraction in USA with her son. She was very healthy and enjoyed every food her daughter-in-law and grand-kids gave her except anything non-vegetarian.
We lost her 3 years ago. She loved all of her five daughters-in-law. She loved everybody. She stayed in a coma for five days before she took her last breath. All her grand-kids were present to attend her funeral, no matter how far they had to travel. Her five sons’ families were all there, not a single one was missing.Her absence makes me sad, but we feel most fortunate to be part of her family. May her soul rest in peace in heaven!
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She sounds like an interesting and wonderful lady. Really knew what she liked and held on to things she cherished.
Thank you so much for reading story of my mother in law. And posting nice thought.
I enjoyed reading about your mother-in-law. It was interesting to read about her experiences living in a foreign country, and about how she had to deal with green cards, visas and passports. You tied the end of your story to the beginning in an excellent way in your fourth paragraph.
Thank you so much. She is showering blessings, because I found Noah readers.
1.The mother in law is great. Its rare to find such a devine relationship between the entities motherinlaw vs daughterinlaw.
2. She is great by virtue of her friendly nature free of ill will…….. again a rare personality deserves all praise.
3 Above all YOU deserve greater appreciation you fit excellently well in the family and carry the greatness share your gratitude to mother-in-law with us all.
It reads well,nice flow,well connected throughout
Hats off “Simple” ! Keep it up.