Wednesday, November 4

When life gives you lemons (Part 1)



Many years ago...
there was a simple lady, Lisa. She was kind-hearted, and ever so thoughtful. Naturally, such wonderful ladies get hitched, and Lisa eventually married and settled down.

Lisa and her hubby was poor, and it didn't help that they have 6 kids. It also didn't help that her hubby turned out to be a part-time gambler. She had to work hard and long hours to earn money to support the kids and her hubby. Often, she will give the best food to the kids, while leaving the remainder for herself. Life was giving her lemons.

Lisa braved on and years grew by, and her kids grew up and started their own families. And her hubby stopped gambling. The lemons just tasted better.

A few years ago...
Lisa stayed with her hubby and their youngest son, who was unmarried. This youngest son was an eligible bachelor, being a successful entrepenuer with an attractive personality. He had lots of girlfriends during his younger days, but he was getting older, which really worried Lisa and her hubby.

So when this beloved son got married to a pretty gal, Lisa was overjoyed. But alas, the lady's new daughter-in-law turned out to be the daughter-in-law from hell. She would berate Lisa for alot of things, even trivial stuffs like cooking in the kitchen.

Lisa was a great cook, and remembers the favourite food of her children and grandchildren. Despite the scoldings, she will continue to prepare their favourite food on special occassions to satisfy everyone's tastebuds.

Under the same roof with the daughter-in-law, life was hell for Lisa. But at least she could take into consolation that all her kids (including her youngest son) were fillial to her. And she was happy that the daughter-in-law gave birth to a sweet little grand-daughter for her.

When life was giving her lemons, she had to make lemonades with it.

A few months ago...
Lisa's youngest son combined money with another of Lisa's daughter to buy them a flat nearby, so that Lisa and her hubby could finally have a place of their own, to get away from the daughter-in-law from hell.

The flat purchase was approved, and although it's a very small flat, but she was looking forward to it. It appears that life was going to take the sour lemons away and start giving her something she deserves.

A few weeks ago...
Lisa went on a Genting trip with some of her children (who are all grown up by now). But she experienced some sudden pains when she was there. She returned to Singapore, and was stayed in hospital, where the doctors did various tests to see what was wrong.

A few days ago...
She was diagnosed with an advanced stage of ovarian cancer, and her family members were told she couldn't survive for more than 3 months.

No one dared to tell her the truth. Lisa was told she will be discharged from the hospital soon. She was still looking forward to moving to the new place.

Though Lisa was frail all along, she didn't looked like someone who was dying soon.

Yesterday...
Lisa's condition took a turn in the morning. She was supposed to have a few months more of life expectancy. But that wasn't the case. Her eyes were closed. And she was put on an oxygen mask, unable to communicate. Most of her relatives were there. And the daughter-in-law from hell was conspicuously not present.

It was a heart-wrenching scene. Doctors told the relatives that though Lisa couldn't reply, she could hear every word that they are saying. So they held her by the hand and talked to her (while crying). They asked her not to fall asleep, and that her dream home was waiting for her once she gets discharged.

At about 6.30pm, she stopped breathing. Her last wish of moving to a place she can call her home, was not to be granted. So close, yet so far away.

One of the relatives suggested that Lisa gave up to the Reaper much earlier than her 3 months life expectancy, to spare everyone the pain and trouble of coming to visit and look after her. Even at Death's gates, Lisa was still as thoughtful as before.

The daughter-in-law from hell came at about 7pm after she was informed of the passing. No one talked to her, and she talked to no one.

For someone who was given so much lemons in her life, Lisa bravely made lemonade out of them. Though she couldn't get to fulfill her last wish to move to the new house, her tablet will reside there.

And Lisa's husband will move into the new home soon.
Alone, and without his beloved Lisa.

19 comments:

Sharon said...

is this a true story?

Ice said...

I don't think I'm a "suck-it-up" type of person. If given a lemon, I will reject! :o)

khengsiong said...

Am asking the same question as Sharon...

Anonymous said...

Attitude is everything! It determines one's altitude in life :)

Superman said...

Sad...Sometimes mother in law and daughter in law can be disastrous when stay together.

TG said...

This is seriously a very touching story. Wow, Shingo, really well written. I think it could be true, you probably just change the names, right?

Willie a.k.a Reptoz said...

Is this a real story? I feel sorry for Lisa. I hate that hell daughter in law.

Erny said...

Yeah..is this a real story??
As I read on, I thought the story will take a turn, and things will end on a brighter tone. Apparently, no.
:-(

Donna said...

very sad story leh..
i am not as kind as Lisa, i probably would ask my son to "fei" his wife, if my daughter in-law is so bad like that..

xiao rou said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
xiao rou said...

Hi. Got directed here thru reading comments in plankton blog :)

Is the story true? Where did you read about this?? So sad..

misscindee said...

aw, inspiring.

(T) (H) (B) said...

Nice story but I wondered if a new woman will move in with the hubby soon...

Shingo T said...

Sharon & khengsiong & xiao rou:
Yes, it's a true story. It sounds so much like a script from the movies though.

MKL:
Smart guy! Yes, real names are withheld.

Ai Shiang:
In life, not all lemons are returnable. But yes, reject the lemons if we can. But better still, squeeze them dry so you get a great drink!

Mei Teng:
Agreed. We can't decide what life gives us, we can only decide how we want to respond.

Superman:
Yup, the less the meetups, the lesser the friction sometimes.

Willie:
We all feel sorry for Lisa. Can't change the past, but it will be a good reference for the decisions we make in future.

Manju:
Bitch. That's the best word I can think of too.

Erny:
Life is not always a fairy tale. "There's no happy ever" after sometimes.

dolly:
Sometimes it's quite tough being the son. Squeezed between 2 women.

Misscindee:
Glad you like it.

HB:
The couple has a kid, so in some way he's held "ransom".

foongpc said...

Very nice and moving story. Enjoyed reading this! : )

Shingo T said...

foongpc:
Thanks. If only it was just a story.

Superman said...

Nice sharing. Thanks.

Shingo T said...

Superman:
Thanks for reading! ^_^

Netster23 said...

This story is really touching.

My mom in law passed away in Jan 2010 today.

She was loved by everyone, at least she dont have a crappy son in law (thats me)!

I cant believe she has left us for 2 months already. times flys...

I missed her cooking, I missed her praise, I missed her breakfast - really missed her breakfast! She knows what I love, she prepared what I want every morning. I missed her coffee! I really do!

In the evening when we got back from work, she would wait for us to come back home and we'll have dinner together - she again, know what I want for dinner and she make sure she cooks something I loves and the rest what her children's loves.

Sometime she would make sure there's enough biscuit or bread at night in case I got hungry and I got something to eat.

If she notice we were not waking up on time she would wake us up in the morning sometime she raise her voice but thats how every mom would be :)

She knows I love to clean my room and I dont like dust hanging around my bed room. If I go outstation for a week she would make sure the room is clean before I return back. there's one time, they almost forgot to clean the room... my mom in law and wife clean the room last minutes and as soon as I step in the house they both gave me a big smile and said "you know what? we clean your room last minutes!" they laughed so loud and I was so touched that I said to my self i can never find any replacement for a kind hearted mom in law. she knew I was tired and she knew dust and dirty room makes me uncomfortable and she did it because she loves us all.

The most difficult time for us all was when the time the doctor told us she is on advantage stage of lung cancer... none of us knew how-to or dare to tell her and so we live our life as normal as we can be and sometime she cried and sometime we cried and sometime we couldn't sleep at night knowing one day we will be parting.

she fight for 6 month and she was call home two month ago, today.

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