The Mother-in-Law(85)

We take a seat at the round table, and Abdul tells us about his time in Australia. He explains the difficulties he’s had finding work. Some has to do with his English, and Ollie jumps in to say that we’ll help him with that.

“We can help you with anything,” he says. “English lessons, intercultural relations, mentoring.”

After Nettie’s death, Ollie threw himself into the business with such vigor I wondered if it was healthy. He’d lost his parents and his sister within a year of each other and he needed to heal. It took me a while to see how healing this business actually was for him.

We don’t see Patrick anymore. We sent Christmas cards for the first couple of years but once he remarried (apparently to a woman who is the heiress to a very nice fortune stemming from her late father’s packaging business) and became the father of twin boys, we let the contact drop. Ollie still found it especially difficult.

“It’s not fair. All Nettie wanted was to be a mother. If she hadn’t had fertility issues, she—and Mum—would still be alive.”

Maybe that was true, maybe it wasn’t. The fact was, the kids and I were his family and honestly, being around each other all day long, it had never felt more true.

“Okay,” I say to Abdul. “Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?”

The agency has been a huge success, in terms of the candidates we’ve been able to place, particularly with organizations that formerly would never have looked at candidates without Australian experience. And yet, we still may never again own a house. We live in a rental not far from our office, near the industrial part of town. The kids’ school is rough, diverse and wonderful, with people from all walks of life. Every day after school, the kids are here at the office doing their homework or playing with Ghezala’s kids. Diana would have loved every bit of it (and how Tom would have been befuddled). I think that is what fuels Ollie’s drive for the whole thing. Everyone, no matter how old they are, wants their mother’s approval. And EVERYONE, no matter who they are, wants their mother-in-law’s.

I glance up at Diana’s final letter. Once the investigation into Diana’s death was over, the police had handed it over to us. Now it was framed on the wall of my office, one of my most cherished possesions.

I could have written more, but in the end, there’s really only two pieces of wisdom worth leaving behind. I worked hard for everything I ever cared about. And nothing I ever cared about cost a single cent.

Mum



Such lessons are hard-learned. But now, we’ve learned them.