George\u2019s absence haunts their home, his memory wrapped in his shirt that Mariana clutches each night.<\/p>\n
Yet, it wasn\u2019t his death that shattered her\u2026 it was her stepdaughter Susan\u2019s demand for his assets. When she finally gave in, a twist emerged, leaving Susan furious and Mariana oddly at peace.Moving on after losing a loved one is never easy. Sometimes, I still hear my hubby George\u2019s voice in the back of my head.<\/p>\n
I wake up clutching his favorite shirt, his scent lingering on the fabric. But while I was still grieving his loss, what my stepdaughter did\u2026 it completely shattered me\u2026I\u2019m Mariana, 57 years old, and I was married to the most wonderful man, George, for 25 years. He had a daughter, Susan, 34, from a previous marriage.<\/p>\n
Our relationship with Susan used to be fine. She called me \u201cMom\u201d and filled the void in my heart of not having a child of my own. I didn\u2019t see her as \u201csomeone else\u2019s\u201d child. I loved her as my own daughter, you know. When Susan got married to the man of her choice, George and I were overjoyed.<\/p>\n
But after that, everything went downhill when George was diagnosed with terminal cancer.Susan\u2019s visits dwindled from weekly to monthly, then stopped altogether. She barely came to see her father, occasionally calling me to ask about his condition. One day, she asked me something that tore me apart. \u201cHow many more days does he have left to live?\u201d<\/p>\n
I gripped the phone tightly, my voice trembling. \u201cSusan, your father isn\u2019t some product with an expiry date.\u201d\u201d I just want to know, Mom. I\u2019m busy, you know that\u2026 I can\u2019t be visiting often,\u201d she replied. \u201cBusy?\u201d I echoed, disbelief coloring my tone. \u201cToo busy to see your dying father?\u201d She sighed heavily. \u201cLook, I\u2019ll try to visit soon, okay?\u201d But that \u201csoon\u201d never came. Then, the day I dreaded finally arrived.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
George\u2019s absence haunts their home, his memory wrapped in his shirt that Mariana clutches each night. Yet, it wasn\u2019t his death that shattered her\u2026 it was her… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance"],"yoast_head":"\n