After Cecile\u2019s husband, Henry, passes on, she seeks solace by moving into her son\u2019s house. But when she gets there, her daughter-in-law makes her choose between their dark and unwelcoming basement and a nursing home. What happens when Cecile decides on another option altogether?Losing a partner after forty years of marriage is traumatizing. Loneliness is felt immediately, but it becomes all the more consuming as time goes on.When Henry, my husband, died of a heart attack, I felt this sense of loneliness harder than anything else. The grief took over, and all I wanted was to be around family.I have two sons, Jack and Edward \u2014 Edward moved to Oxford straight out of college because he was awarded the opportunity to further his studies. He calls me every evening just to chat about our days.\n
Jack, on the other hand, lives not too far away from me. He is married to Lucy and has a son named after my husband.So, now that I\u2019m all alone in this big house Henry bought when we were just starting our family, I\u2019ve been trying to decide whether to sell the house or live with Jack, as he offered, or move out by myself.I decided to try living with Jack. It would be the most comforting thing. But little did I know, Lucy had other plans for my accommodation.\n
So, I was at their doorstep, suitcases at my feet. Ready to take on the role of a live-in mother and grandmother \u2014 taking over the kitchen whenever Lucy needed me.\n
Lucy came to open the door, a mug of coffee in her hand, and told me that their house was bursting at the seams with the limited space and that the only room available was Henry Jr.\u2019s room.But she wasn\u2019t about to upset the room and change it in any way. It was for Henry when he returned from his semester at college.I understood that. It was his space, and I didn\u2019t want to be a burden. But I had assumed that Jack would have sorted something out for me \u2014 he was the one who asked me to move in if I needed it.\u201cCecile, we\u2019ve got a bit of a space issue, as you can see,\u201d Lucy repeated.\u201dYou\u2019ve got two options,\u201d she continued. \u201cThere is the basement, or there\u2019s a nursing home. Your call, grandma.\u201dTalk about a rock and a hard place.Now, let me tell you about their basement. It\u2019s not the basement you may find in some homes \u2014 there\u2019s no converted space for gaming, sewing, or arts and crafts. It\u2019s not a den or cozy room for guests.Jack\u2019s basement is more of a cold, humid dungeon with a bedframe that sighed at every move and a mattress with sharp springs.This was not the comfort I needed.\u201dLucy,\u201d I said, shuffling my weight from one foot to the other. \u201cI appreciate the options, dear. But I\u2019ll pass on the basement and nursing home combo.\u201dCue to my son \u2014 trying to play the peacemaker.\n
He came up from behind Lucy, his arm around her waist.\u201dMom, I\u2019m sorry. I wasn\u2019t thinking when I invited you to stay. Lucy has a point. We\u2019re tight on space. I promise to get some furniture for the basement to make it comfortable for you.\u201dA basement life wasn\u2019t for me. A nursing home wasn\u2019t for me \u2014 at least not yet. So, I just took matters into my own hands.I dragged my suitcases to the car and drove to my niece\u2019s home. I stayed there for a week while looking for a place I could buy.The house was already on the market, and once it was sold, I knew I would have more than enough money to buy a small place for myself.When everything was settled, my niece helped me move in, and I felt empowered. Maybe I didn\u2019t need family as much as I thought I did.Edward was worried about me being alone, but I reassured him I would be fine.\n
I moved into the new apartment soon after \u2014 a cozy one-bedroom, perfect for me and the cat I hoped to adopt. The bonus was that it came fully furnished, so I didn\u2019t have to worry about anything.Then, Jack phoned and asked me to dinner with him and Lucy. I drove to their home, wondering what they expected from me. We sat down for dinner, and I told them I had bought an apartment and lived there alone.\u201dI thought you were staying with Mia,\u201d Jack said, referring to my niece.\u201dYou can\u2019t be serious!\u201d Lucy exclaimed at the same time.\u201dI did stay with Mia until I moved. I needed my own space.\u201d\u201dYou said that you want to be around family, so I offered,\u201d Jack said, turning red.\u201dYes, but if it meant being shipped off to a nursing home or having to stay in your basement, I think I\u2019m better off alone.\u201dThen, I left.\n
A few weeks later, I adopted my cat.But I also rewrote my will, leaving everything to Edward, who continues putting money into my account every month, even though I told them I didn\u2019t need it.\u201dA son must help his Mom,\u201d he said.He also asked me if I wanted to move abroad with him \u2014 but how could I? I needed to be close to where Henry rests, at least for now.\n
So, from basement dilemmas to a cozy haven of my own, life certainly throws you for a loop.If your child gave you those options, what would you have done?Here\u2019s another story for you: Elizabeth placed her father in a nursing home and never saw him again. She only visited him at his funeral. But the young woman\u2019s karma caught up with her and taught her a harsh lesson when she received a letter from him after his death\u2026\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My Daughter-in-Law Made Me Choose between Living in Basement or Nursing Home After Cecile\u2019s husband, Henry, passes on, she seeks solace by moving into her son\u2019s house. But when she gets there, her daughter-in-law makes her choose between their dark and unwelcoming basement and a nursing home. What happens when Cecile decides on another option\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":77856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[855],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-77853","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-story"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/34-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}