My dad quickly got married again after my mom died. He seemed set on getting rid of all traces of my mom from our lives with his new wife Marlene. I tried to understand her at first, but what she did went too far.
Marlene slowly began taking down pictures of my mom from the living room and “accidentally” breaking some of her favorite things. But when she said my mom’s wedding ring was “lost,” I knew I had to do something.
The last straw was when I saw Marlene cleaning the floor while broken pieces of the ceramic vase holding my mom’s ashes were lying all over her. Her carefree attitude and smirk made me feel fired up.
I knew I couldn’t go along with Marlene’s actions. My dad didn’t seem to know or was in denial, and I was afraid he’d think I was against his new marriage. So, I came up with a plan.
I told Marlene that the sealed box inside held my mom’s last things and asked her to keep it safe. She fell for the trick, and the next day she was crazy looking for her own lost things.
The box with her favorite things in it was “accidentally” dropped in the sink and she left it on the doormat. When Marlene was questioned, her real nature came out.
My dad saw the conversation and saw for the first time that Marlene didn’t care about how our family felt. Our family no longer respected and trusted her because of what she did.
It was nice that Marlene was leaving, but the healing process had only just started. My dad and I went to treatment to deal with our loss and get back together.
After all, keeping my mom’s memory alive wasn’t just about keeping memories alive; it was about standing up for family, love, and respect.
