My Mother-In-Law Breaks My Heart�

2001-09-04

My husband and I went to see my mother-in-law this weekend. Now I know where my husband gets his patience. I don�t know how this woman survives from day to day. It breaks my heart every time we go to see her. She doesn�t drive, she lives in San Bernardino, armpit of the world, and she takes care of her mother, who is pretty much her only company. Her mother spends all of her time wishing she had never left Michigan. She tells the same stories over and over and over. I�ve heard them all a thousand times and I never spend more than a couple of hours at a time there. You can�t have a conversation about anything else, and she�ll continuously interrupt you asking whether she�s told you the story that she told you five minutes ago.

We were supposed to go out for mom-in-law�s birthday, but she wasn�t feeling well. She asked my husband to do her grocery shopping for her and I stayed behind to talk. When my husband knocking at the back door, I opened and whispered �Save me!�

Mother-in-law and Grandma are cat rescuers. They have three or four that they keep indoors and they feed the neighborhood strays. Thereby creating the problem they wish to solve. Grandma kept urging mother-in-law to go out and get the latest kitty that they are keeping in the house. Mother-in-law is sitting in her chair, sweating and trembling, and Grandma wants her to go get the kitty. I say that she�s not feeling well, let her sit, I already saw the kitty outside. Grandma gets all huffy, saying that she wouldn�t ask her to do anything. My husband said, �Yes you did. You just asked her to get up and get the cat.�

I so want to get my mother-in-law a computer. It would give her a connection to the outside world. I could send her e-mail, or converse by IM. She would have some contact besides her mother. She could shop, explore, and play games. Another computer just has not been in the budget. If anyone has a spare, let me know.

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