A Year Without Snow

-7-

Friday, 20th August 2004

"Have you been brushing your teeth correctly, you know that you have sensitive gums." My mum said where she sat across from me at the dinner table, a bowl of soup displayed in front of her.

It was lunchtime and my mum had just come home from her usual route that now was extending itself to territory outside of town. Two days ago she had begun looking for jobs in nearby towns, but still, nothing had made its way. The plan, I now understood, consisted in my mum finding a job that could support us both, then rent a cheap apartment downtown until she could make enough money for us to go back to England, and start our lives again there.

"Careful with the sun, we don't want you to start bleeding from your nose again. Oh, right, Audrey, sometimes when she catches too much sun her nose starts bleeding, but it's not to worry." My mother explained as she took the spoon to her mouth. My mum had grown thinner in this last weeks, she didn't use as much makeup anymore like she used to back at home and her clothing choices had totally differed seeing that she had left more than half of her wardrobe on the other side of the ocean. So now she wore my grandma's old clothing, which consisted basically of sheath dresses, suits, and button-down shirts, nothing like my mum's casual clothes, like jeans and t-shirts.

"Yes, she told me." My grandma answered from the head of the table where she was filling my plate with roast beef and mashed potatoes and then placing it in front of me. "She also told me that her survival consisted of eating waffles and nothing else, is that right?"

My mum gave me an annoyed look making me look down at my plate now filled with delicious food, "See Audrey, your granddaughter doesn't understand the difference between eating waffles and stuffing herself with them."

"I figured." She said laughing, "So, Daisy have you told your mom about your new friend."

I exhaled dramatically and rapidly said, "A red boy was in the grocery store and he talked and yelled a lot, and he lives in that house." I finished pointing to my left and quickly looking down at my plate again.

"It's Bryson, he's the Kanne's kid. They are very nice people, have lived next door to us for many years. Bryson is Daisy's age." My grandma told my mum but the other woman wasn't listening to her, she kept looking absently at the wall in front of her, lost in her thoughts.

"Well, I've got to go." She suddenly said while standing up from the yellow chair. She adjusted the green and slightly tight dress she wore today, in which she seemed uncomfortable. "Have a good day." Were the last words that we heard before the front brown door closed behind her.

"She doesn't care about anything, grandma." I quietly stated looking down at my plate full of food that I had no intention of eating.

"Don't say that, honey. Your mother is doing all of this for you, so you can have a good life." My grandma answered putting her wrinkled hand on my arm.

"I don't want a good life, I want a good mum. Besides you can give me a good life, I don't understand why she wants a job so badly." I remarked while moving the mashed potatoes on my plate from one side to the other.

"Let me tell you something, Daisy." My grandmother started saying while pitting down her fork. "I never worked a day in my life. It was always your grandfather that made all the money, and it was more than enough, not only for us three, him, me and your dad but also to you and your mom now. And that was what I told her when you arrived, that I had more than enough to support the both of you, and even put you into college. But your mom quickly refused.

"Laura is a stubborn and hardworking woman, who doesn't want to be supported by anyone, she wants to be independent. And I envy her so much, I would never have the courage to do what she does, I stayed home like every woman did, taking care of the children while the men worked." She sadly spoke while looking intensively at me, "But, honey I want you to understand, that this century has nothing to do with the last one. In some years, you will have a job, you'll be independent without no one supporting you and that will be the best feeling ever, something I never did but that your mother is now doing. No one should be reprimed for working, no one. Because there's nothing more honorable than that."