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My auntie Jaqs, Ma's sister, is convinced that ma lives a charmed life.
Any lucky escape mum has, a fall that was nearly a bad one, or a near miss in the car, she says...told you, there's someone up there looking out for you. According to jaqs, it always works out ok for Mum. She seems, in her view, to skate above life's hurdles and troubles. And Jaq's is a little jealous of Ma's life.
Not quite sure how she reached this conclusion. Where this onlooking protector was when Mum fell down her stairs and broke her ankle, or when her marriage hit the rocks and she was depressed, or the years spent coping with my severe childhood illnesses, I don't know. She's had her share of ups and downs like anyone else. Lost a house to bankruptcy, lost loved ones, a miscarriage, a career destroyed by major back injury, etc etc.
But Mum has the skill of being relatively contented. Sure, she gets down at times. I've known her be depressed, occasionally for an extended period. But overall, she knows how to see the good in her life and knows how to take her happiness where she can.
Where it comes from, i think, is that Mum isn't constantly in a state of family crisis. She's built strong and supportive relationships with her children. She remained very good friends with her ex-husband after they'd divorced. People around her come to her aid if she's having problems.
But that's all stuff she built. And she built it with as many tears as anybody else.
Somehow though, Jaqs sees this as a charmed existence, protected in some way from the worst sufferings of life. Because...Jaqs didn't build those close supportive relationships with her children and then their partners. Her divorces weren't amicable, and the one that generally steps up to help when she's in trouble is Mum.
*shrugs*
It's all about perspective and where you sit.
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