Sandra was the sweetest, kindest, loveliest woman ever. She blessed me with twelve wonderful years of marriage and three beautiful girls. She was an amazing wife and a fantastic mother. She was my closest friend and confidante but our happiness was cut short by the cold hands of death.
When the headaches became frequent, we thought she needed a new pair of glasses, then it became worse and the MRI showed a tumor that was shrinking her brain. The first and second surgeries only gave her temporary relief before the tumor returned with an aggression that could not be tamed. We were only buying time. We knew that Sandra wasn’t going to make it. It was difficult watching life gradually seeping out of the person you love.
After the funeral, taking care of the girls by myself became an uphill task. It was so hard trying to adjust to life without my wife. All the family members who had earlier said I could call on them if I ever needed anything suddenly became very busy. I was stranded until my late wife’s niece showed up at my doorstep. She was the answer to my prayer.
Edna was young and very resourceful. How she managed to joggle between her job and running the house was quite impressive. I particularly liked the fact that she was firm with the girls, she didn’t indulge their excesses like their mom would. She had a way of talking to them without saying a word. I thought it was hilarious whenever she gave them “the look”, and my children would immediately understand what she meant and also comport themselves accordingly.
I could travel out for weeks without worrying about a thing because I knew that my children were in very good hands. Their grades had improved, they became more respectful and they did chores around the house. I couldn’t be happier. Edna was a blessing to my family. She lived with us for many years and no doubt had become a part of our family. I was extremely grateful for the gift of her so the least I could do was to ensure that she was very comfortable and lacked nothing.
When she turned 30, I decided to get her a car but her reaction to the gift got me confused. She cried for days on end and refused to say what the problem was. Little did I know that I was about to receive the shock of my life. About a week later, Edna dropped a bombshell that shook me to my core.
That night, Edna unraveled a secret that had been in her family for a long time. She felt bad for keeping the truth from me for so long. She couldn’t continue living with the guilt of hiding such a thing from someone who has treated her like his own child. She couldn’t continue to live a lie.
The big reveal was that Edna was not my wife’s niece like I was made to believe all these years, she was actually my wife’s daughter but was raised by her Aunt!!.
When my wife had Edna, her folks felt that she was too young to be a mother so they took the baby to live with her older sister in another town while she returned to school to further her education. She grew up thinking that her aunty was her mother until she stumbled on some family members having a discussion about her. She was only twelve years old when she found out the truth about her real mother and she was devastated. Inspite of everything they made her promise never to tell anyone about it.
I was in utter disbelief. I would never have believed what Edna told me if my brother in-law did not corroborate her story. My late wife and I were friends before we got married, so I knew her for about fifteen years put together. She was my best friend and we talked about everything, (or so I thought). How could she hide such a thing from me. She kept this secret form me and even took it to her grave. How could she?
Right now I am angry with my In-laws. I am disappointed in them. I believe that if they could keep such a thing from me so long, then they are capable of killing someone and concealing it.
Edna is my step daughter and not my in-law? She has become a part of my family and there nothing I can do about that. But my In-laws..how do I deal with them going forward?..What can I do?
From the writer’s desk:
Hello everyone, thank you so much for sticking with me throughout 2021. I appreciate your constructive criticism, opinions and suggestions. Thank you so much. Let’s do it again in 2022.
Happy New Year and May 2022 be good to us.
