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12/17/2015
Dr. Laura:
When I was a stay-at-home mom and my husband worked 2 jobs to keep things that way, his mother called. I was washing dishes and had wet hands, so I didn't pick up the phone. Our answering machine picked up the call, and I heard my mother-in-law angrily state that she had bought a swing set for her grandkids and none of her sons (my husband was the oldest of seven) had come to help her put it up.
I didn't even know she had purchased a swing set. I thought about her tone and thought it was wrong of her to try to pull a guilt trip on my husband. If she only knew how hard he worked and how responsible he was. I called her back and said I didn't think it was right for her to be yelling at her son on an answering machine when he had been working day and night. I was so frustrated I started to cry, and she immediately backed down, saying she was sorry to upset me. We came to a mutual respect for one another that day, and since then we've become very close.
My husband died of cancer seven years ago. She was there by his side along with me, helping every day. I have since re-married and she had us for Thanksgiving dinner last month. I cooked the turkey and she set the table. She is now 81 years old and she is as close as any girl could have to a mom. My own mother died four months after my husband. I wanted to let you know that sometimes sticking up for your man is just as important as a man sticking up for his wife!
Jodi
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