{"id":148,"date":"2024-10-21T09:45:16","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T09:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/mme-el\/?p=148"},"modified":"2024-10-21T09:45:16","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T09:45:16","slug":"a-new-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/mme-el\/a-new-life\/","title":{"rendered":"A new life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

T<\/span>imes have changed. Mme El retired from active life when <\/span>her husband left. There\u2019s a new boss in the house, her <\/span>daughter-in-law L\u00e9onine, of Danish origin, brought up in <\/span>Belgium, and Mme El is reduced to the status of \u2018honorary <\/span>president\u2019 as I call it. She now shares what is generally the <\/span>lot of the elderly: in her room, on her own, not able to move <\/span>much, no occupation, no incentive to do anything, except <\/span>watch passers-by in the street and there aren\u2019t many, shouted <\/span>at for falling asleep at times, her material needs impeccably <\/span>attended to by her daughter-in-law, self-proclaimed \u2018salari\u00e9e <\/span>de ma belle-m\u00e8re\u2019, my mother-in-law\u2019s employee, because the <\/span>state makes a payment for such care. Mme El is unwilling to <\/span>make any effort and calls herself a \u2018fain\u00e9ante\u2019, (\u2018faire n\u00e9ant\u2019),<\/span>
laziness, but at her age, after her life, is she not entitled to it ?<\/span>
Does anybody appreciate the efforts she does make when <\/span>challenged to read or write or obliged to get up and move <\/span>about? Did she not do her share of caring for others without <\/span>fuss nor pay, a list could be made. Did she not work hard <\/span>all her life? L\u00e9onine tells me, that\u2019s a myth. Asked whether <\/span>anything positive can be said, the answer is straight forward <\/span>and she adds that she\u2019s known her for forty-two years. I must <\/span>believe the witnesses who were there before me and hear <\/span>from neighbour Rose who has also known Mme El for many <\/span>years that she is a \u2018brave, brave femme\u2019, a gallant, valiant, <\/span>courageous woman always willing to help others, Rose\u2019s <\/span>mother for one was a beneficiary, while neighbour Alice and <\/span>other villagers admire her for having enabled her son to go to<\/span>
university and study the subject he liked, music.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mme El acquired her daughter-in-law as a young girl with a <\/span>year left at school and her son barely finished with his training.<\/span>
She took in the young people and cared for them in their early <\/span>years until they were financially independent. Fortunately it all <\/span>turned out well, she says, and he has to live with her, doesn\u2019t <\/span>he, Mme El makes every allowance for that, be glad they get <\/span>on, it\u2019s in her son\u2019s interest, and she recognized on numerous <\/span>occasions that L\u00e9onine was \u2018vaillante\u2019, hard-working and <\/span>efficient, while shuddering at the thought of living under the <\/span>same roof. But isn\u2019t it much better to be in the family home <\/span>than in a place for the elderly? Mme El isn\u2019t dead sure and <\/span>doesn\u2019t have negative things to say about an old people\u2019s <\/span>home where she had stayed for some weeks, but, she says, <\/span>obviously there wouldn\u2019t be the money to pay for that.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Times have changed. Mme El retired from active life when her husband left. There\u2019s a new boss in the house, her daughter-in-law L\u00e9onine, of Danish origin, brought up in Belgium, and Mme El is reduced to the status of \u2018honorary president\u2019 as I call it. She now shares what is generally the lot of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t