What's a Mother to Do?A Story by Mari' EmeraudeAn interesting controversy..Here's a scenario: A mother has five children. She is extremely
ill and in need of in-home assistance. Before her husband passed
away, the family had decided early on that she would stay in the home
as long as possible, and the children would all help her in her day to
day tasks if unable to manage her affairs as independently as she
once had. Unfortunately, the work does not seem to be distributed evenly now. One
of the boys lives out of state so obviously he cannot be there to assist. He
does send money monthly so that the family might be able to hire someone part
time to fulfill the duties that he or the other children are unable to do. One
daughter is very busy, and her job requires frequent travel so she cannot be
there to help out either. When she is in town, she doesn't "have the
'time" to see her mother. One child is totally absent from the situation
altogether. In fact, a few of the kids haven't seen him in years. The
last they heard he was living downtown somewhere and if they're lucky, he just
might pop up around Christmas. The two children left are daughters who
both take turns checking on their mother. One daughter is over almost
daily setting up her medication, cleaning her home, doing her laundry,
cooking, and assisting her with hygiene. The other daughter
comes and helps when she can. She too has a large family so she
doesn't always have the funds for gas to come over and help and she certainly
can't contribute financially like her brother can. Soon
the mother dies and the day comes for the reading of the will. The children are
all there, (even the frequently absent sons) and are gathered around to hear
their parents' final last testament. The result? Any and all money left after
expenses is to be SPLIT EQUALLY amongst the five children. Hmmm... was this a
fair decision? Should monetary
reciprocation be rewarded only to those who made
the effort? What about those who could only help where time or money
allowed, or better yet, those who showed up only when there was
something to be gained? Perhaps the saying "What's a mother to do?" was
born out of this conundrum. © 2020 Mari' Emeraude |
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1 Review Added on November 30, 2020 Last Updated on November 30, 2020 AuthorMari' EmeraudeDenver, COAboutI am a writer, journalist, and poet from Denver, Co who remarks on my fulfilling life in rich, poetic (and sometimes humorous) ways. more..Writing
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