Recently, the weather suddenly turned colder and I could not bear it, so I caught a fever. To avoid infecting my son’s family, I took some medicine and turned on the air conditioner.
That evening, I heard my son and daughter-in-law talking in their room.
My daughter-in-law said, disgusted, “The air conditioner uses so much electricity, but she still has the nerve to turn it on?”
“I bet she never turned on the air conditioner in her own house.”
“If you ask me, we should just have her move out and rent a place of her own.”
My son hesitated and said, “I spent half a month convincing Mom to sell her old house so we could bring her here to live with us and take care of her. Wouldn’t be right to kick her out now, would it?”
“Besides, the old house hasn't sold yet and we haven't got the money.”
My daughter-in-law whispered, “Tomorrow, take back her keys so she can't enter our place.”
“Once she leaves, we'll pretend we’re going on a trip. If she knocks, don’t open the door. Then, we'll call her and tell her to find a place to stay."
"After she sells the house, we confront her and drive her away."
My son hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Alright.”
The next day, my son said hesitantly to me, "Mom, I lost my key. Do you still have the spare?”
Without hesitation, I gave him my key.
Then, I immediately called the real estate agent. “The house is no longer for sale,” I said. “I’m keeping it for myself.”
——
After I finished the call, my son, Frank Wright, was in a daze.
He stammered, “Mom, what … what’s going on? Why aren’t you selling the house anymore?”
I replied calmly, “Oh, nothing really. I just want to live in my own home, so I can turn on the air conditioner whenever I please, without having to care about others ' opinions."
Frank lowered his head in embarrassment, his face flushed red, then pale.
Just then, my daughter-in-law, Ivy Leigh, suddenly pushed open the door. Crossing her arms, she snorted. "Mom, who are you talking about?”
My expression remained blank. “Who do you think I'm talking about?”
She sneered. “Mom, as our elder, Frank and I have always respected you. But that doesn’t mean you can act all high and mighty just because of your age.”
My temper flared instantly.
But Ivy kept on talking. "Since you have moved to this house, you can't be too selfish and only think about yourself.”
“Everyone knows how nice it feels to have the air conditioner on, but you can’t indulge yourself and forget about others!"
I trembled with rage. “How am I being selfish? How am I ignoring your well-being? Is turning on the air conditioner for a few hours enough to kill you?”
Ivy shouted, “Of course it could! You don't know the cost of living unless you're the breadwinner.”
“We young people have parents to support and children to raise—the pressure is immense. We don't ask for your sympathy, but we'd be grateful if at least, you don’t drag us down.”
I was about to speak, but my son pulled me aside and sighed. "Mom. I think Ivy is right. Look at our family … car payment, mortgage, kids' tuition... Everything needs money.”
“We can't even afford to run the AC. So maybe you shouldn’t either.”
“How about this — you write a statement saying you won’t use the air conditioner anymore and this matter ends here.”
As I looked at my son, my heart turned completely cold.
I had worked hard to raise him and send him to college, but I didn't expect him to treat me like this.
His house and car? I used my entire life savings for the down payments.
After they got married, not only did they never buy me a single gift during holidays, but every time they saw me, they’d complain about how poor they were.
I believed them and felt sorry for them, so I pulled out my retirement savings to help pay off their mortgages and car loans.
