Dear Emily,
My son, who recently finished his master’s degree abroad, has decided to accept the offer of a multinational company based here. We were ecstatic he’d be starting a new life near his family.
A few months ago, he went to a party and met this woman he fell head over heels in love with. I don’t know what witch’s brew she made him drink—she’s all he’s been talking about. He just bought his own his place and with this freedom, I am afraid the girl will ensnare him irretrievably, with no chance of escape.
She was a Miss something in a beauty contest and the first child in her family of eight to finish high school. Her parents farm a small plot in the province. I admit she’s a looker, which got her into the pageant, but there are so many questionable things about her. Her boobs are “store-bought,” so to speak, her nose is obviously too patrician to be related to her siblings, and she loves high-end name brands too much.
I am no snob. I am just a concerned mother with a son who doesn’t have the street smarts to look beyond his raging hormones. He is a babe in the woods and no match for this girl, who might think she’s won the lotto with him!
—MOTHER OUTLAW
I am assuming your son is weaned from his bottle and past the use of Pampers now to go to the bathroom on his own?
Why are you still treating him like a baby? Don’t you trust his judgment, that he can think on his own? Weren’t you able to embed your precious values in him growing up? Let him swim through this life the way he wants to.
Just as you cannot prevent him anymore from choking on his food as you did when he was a baby, allow him to learn from his mistakes. What are a few missteps to stiffen a spine or teach him a lesson or two? You will not be with him forever to guide him every step of the way, so let him be.
Who knows if this woman may even be good for him, guided by her own street smarts? More often than not, those who have had difficult lives growing up, who have been “forged in fire,” get ahead with their laser-focused goals. Yes, you’re being a bit of a snob by not giving your son and her a chance.
Just hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, as the saying goes. If it’s meant to be, you bet your sweet tooth it’s meant to be.
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