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For most of her life, Cara has harbored a deep resentment toward her mother. When her father, her favorite person in the world, passes away in an accident. Their fragile relationship cannot handle anything else. But then, everything changes when Cara\u2019s mother drains her college fund.<\/p>\n
For as long as I could remember, my mother\u2019s insatiable greed and frugality cast a long, dark shadow over my childhood.It made no sense. We weren\u2019t a poor family \u2014 in fact, we were far from that. Both my parents earned more than enough to provide a comfortable life. My father, Henry, was a regional manager for a popular retail store. And my mother, Lydia, was a nurse. We were fine.And yet, my school years were marred by spending Saturday mornings at thrift stores, looking for hand-me-down clothes. My social life and birthday parties were basically non-existent, because attending these events meant buying gifts, and that was something my mother found utterly incomprehensible.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pocket money?<\/p>\n
That was a foreign concept to my mother.<\/p>\n
But then, a diary entry changed everyGrowing up, my father was my favorite.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, Cara,\u201d he said, every night when he came to switch my bedroom light off. \u201cYou\u2019re my little light, you know that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout my childhood, my father littered my bleak existence with joy. He would sneak in little treats, secrets trips to the movies when mom was working, and sometimes, he would simply buy me cotton candy \u2014 my favorite sweet treat.<\/p>\n
On the other side of it all, was my mother. She barely interacted with me, always lost in her own daydreams. But when it came to buying groceries, or switching off the lights, she was alert and sCome on, Cara,\u201d she would hiss under her breath. \u201cDo you think we\u2019re made of money? Switch off the light when you leave the room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once, when I was in high school, I got a part-time job at the local pet grooming salon. I just wanted to make some money for myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood, Cara,\u201d Dad said. \u201cThis is a good thing for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom rolled her eyes.<\/p>\n
But when my first paycheck came in \u2014 Mom helped herself to more than hal\u201dI need it, Cara,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m sorry but you don\u2019t understand how to run a household.\u201d<\/p>\n
This became a trend.<\/p>\n
And then, when I was almost done with school, my father got into an accident during a stI\u2019m sorry, honey,\u201d Mom said, coming into my room with her socks and slippers. \u201cDad didn\u2019t make it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The shock hit me from all directions, but more than that \u2014 I was shocked that Mom looked more stressed about the funeral preparations rather than the loss of my father.<\/p>\n
Mom and I slipped through life in silence after that.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know how to navigate life with her. All I knew was that my father had put money away for me \u2014 my college fund. And I was so close to getting out.orm.f of it.trict.thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For most of her life, Cara has harbored a deep resentment toward her mother. When her father, her favorite person in the world, passes away in an… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n