Mother and Mother-in-Law

When I first told my friends that my mother would be landing in Torino before the birth of Veronica everyone was happy for me. They kept telling me how lucky I was to have my mother come and help with the new baby. When I found out my mother was planning to stay for five months I told her I had promised to go back to Seattle in March. She then revised her travel plans and will be staying in Italy until February 20, that’s for four full months. With her travel plans set, the ticket purchased, I set out to get the house and her room ready.

Most of my friends were shocked to find out that my mother would be staying with us for so long. Demetrio even went as far as to ask me if he could stay in Rome for that whole time. I think he was a little afraid of his mother-in-law, whom he has never met until now. I told my skeptical friends that although I have not lived with my mother since I was 16 years old, she is an extremely reasonable person. I explained to them that although she IS a typical Chinese mother, being that she can be critical, controlling, loud, a know it all, (I am guilty of all of the above) she is not crazy.

For the 13 years, I was living in Seattle my mom and I kept in touch; we called, e-mailed, wrote letters and sent cards on all the important occasions. We remained close and she made several visits to Seattle to check up on my sister and me. Having her here has been a godsend. She helps me more than I can say and more than I can ever thank her for. Everyone tells me she looks like a cousin or my sister but she really is more like a great friend.

Demetrio has been making her a cappuccino every morning for the past month and they are both in love with sesame seed grissini. It’s funny to hear him sing her praises but I am glad they are getting along as fantastically as they are. He keeps telling me how lucky we are and how easy this first month and has been with her here. We are not sleep deprived, Veronica gets a lot of stimulation from being around the three of us and the dog even has a new best friend. Over the past 10 years, my mom has traveled the world. Her sense of humor has changed into one that Demetrio and I can relate to wholeheartedly. We enjoy one another’s company and have gone through at least one movie a day for the past month. I realized that my mother and I are more similar now that we have ever been. Premature as it is, I’m only beginning to worry about what I will do it if I will feel overwhelmed when she finally has to say goodbye. That’s the worrywart in me and I know I should feel blessed instead of anxious.

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