*This article is the content of the second issue of "Reading" in 2023
In the community where I live, there is a good daughter-in-law who is recognized by everyone. That day, I saw her shouting encouragement to an old man: "Take one more step, come on!" "100 steps! The old lady set another record today! He was also excitedly taking pictures with his mobile phone.
The old lady is her mother-in-law. It was late autumn, and there was a chilly feeling in the air. She seemed afraid to freeze the old lady, so she dressed her thickly, with neck gloves and everything. Since her husband died in a car accident, she has been living with her mother-in-law for her life. The disaster was not alone, and the mother-in-law accidentally fell halfway. She insisted on massaging her mother-in-law, led her mother-in-law out to practice walking every day, even if there was only a small step of progress throughout the day, she enthusiastically encouraged her mother-in-law to be able to walk; Moreover, she herself firmly believes that her mother-in-law will one day rejoin the ranks of square dancing.
She was not pregnant, and she did not conceive a child until her husband's death, which became her biggest regret. Some people advised her to quickly find another one, and she would not live too hard in the future. She only smiled and said that she had no plans to remarry at present, and even if she did, her mother-in-law was also a dowry, otherwise she would rather be alone.
Whenever her mother-in-law gestured to her inarticulately, for fear of dragging her down, she would send herself to a nursing home, she would say to her mother-in-law: "You are always relaxed." Unmarried, I am your daughter-in-law; Married, I am your daughter. She often comforted her mother-in-law like this and told her not to think cranky.
An old mother-in-law, the memory is getting worse and worse, sometimes forget that her son is no longer alive, so she can't stop nagging: Why don't you leave work yet, don't go home yet? She listened to it and felt very sad, but she still cooperated with her elderly mother-in-law to "act" - your son worked overtime today, and if he doesn't come back, you sleep first. The next morning, the mother-in-law who woke up also cleared her mind, remembered the fact that her son had died, and tears could not stop flowing. While making breakfast, she comforted her mother-in-law: "Don't be sad, your son went over there early, he was taking care of everything." Maybe you will be busy buying a new house, and when the old day is over, you can enjoy the blessing in peace. The old lady was amused by her kindness and drank an extra bowl of porridge.
The mother-in-law likes to drink porridge, so she changes her tricks to make it for her, mung bean porridge, eight-treasure porridge, vegetable porridge, skinned egg lean porridge... It's not the same for a week. Every time the old lady's memory came back a little bit, she would say to her with tears in her eyes: "Thank you!" ”
Once a friend asked me for a drink, and while eating and drinking, I drank sadness. He said that on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, he and his sister took their mother home from the old people's apartment and had a reunion dinner. After that, the old mother refused to go back, like a child who played tricks. Let them persuade bitterly, but the mother was stunned and did not say a word. However, he and his sister have unavoidable difficulties at home, and his brother-in-law is sick in bed all year round and needs his sister's care. Although he could barely free up a hut for his mother, he and his wife were busy with their own work and had no time to take care of the elderly. The old man's apartment was owned by a friend of his, and he naturally paid more attention to his mother, not to mention that the meals there were also timely, much better than the conditions they took care of themselves, and they were more at ease. The mother was silent for a while, and finally spoke: "Everything is good in that place, but it's too stuffy, and I'm a little out of breath." The mother looked lonely and said, "Just give me a small room, I can fool myself with a bite to eat." After saying that, the mother was like a child who had done something wrong, and she never dared to look up at his and her sister's faces. Later, he discussed with his wife and decided to rely on his mother and no longer send her to the old people's apartment. The mother was stunned for a moment, looked at them with some disbelief, and then wiped her tears and kept saying to them: "Thank you, thank you!" ”
Another friend also talked about his mother. He said that on Mother's Day, he called his hometown to have a few words with his mother and wish her a happy holiday. As a result, the phone called, and his mother asked him what was going on. Because these years, he would only call his mother if something really happened. So, he was in a hurry for a long time, and did not say the phrase "Happy Mother's Day". Too restrained, he is not good at expressing emotions, and is always embarrassed to say "love". Finally, when it was time to hang up, he said to his mother, "It's really nothing, I just missed you, call you and listen to your voice." The mother was silent for a while, and suddenly said "thank you." Friends said that at that moment, he almost cried. His mother's habitual politeness made him ashamed and made him feel even more distressed.
My parents' old house was about to be demolished, and since the name of my grandfather was written on the house photo, it took various procedures to prove that the house belonged to them. I had to take a leave of absence and go back and run for a week to get everything done. When I took my parents into the brand new building and handed them the title deed with my father's name on it, my mother suddenly said, "Thank you old son, it's a lot of effort to help us with these things!" ”
I said, "This is my son's business, how come it is still a help?" My mother smiled and didn't say anything more, just kept telling my father to buy more of my favorite dishes.
My mother didn't give up the old things, and many of them moved into new houses in the building. For example, a basin that is some years old also occasionally washes vegetables and receives water to water flowers; When it was tough, I used it to catch the rainwater leaking from the roof, and I also used it to turn into water on the stove that I took home after picking up snow outside... That multifunctional washbasin is very much like my mother. Our daily life is taken care of by our mother, food, clothing, food, food, drink, lassa, sewing and mending the seams, she is busy every day in an orderly manner, and she has been worrying about it all her life, why do we say "thank you"? And I just did a trivial thing, and she expressed her gratitude to me so religiously, and my heart was mixed.
Original title: "Mother's Thanks"
Author: Zhu Chengyu
Editor: Zhang Ziqing / Proofreader: Guo Yanhui