Exhaustion nearly knocked Eleanor off her feet. All she could think about was getting home, collapsing into bed and getting a few hours of sleep. She also knew that peace and quiet was unlikely—her husband and his ever-present mother were already waiting in the apartment.
Eleanor and Mike had been legally married for six years. When they first met he had been attentive and charming—the kind of city guy with his own place that made her friends a little envious.
But Eleanor hadn’t married for the apartment; she married for love. The picture of a happy marriage began to fade about six months after the wedding. Real life turned out to be very different.
It soon became clear that the package came with a permanent addition: Mike’s mother, Susan. Plenty of families are close, but Susan showed up at their door almost every day, despite having her own home. Her behavior matched every bad mother-in-law stereotype.
Eleanor found herself criticized constantly: the dishes weren’t shiny enough, she wasn’t paying the right kind of attention to her husband, and dinners were “late.” She was regularly reminded of her small-town background and plain roots. On top of that, Susan questioned Eleanor’s looks and openly wondered what drew her son to a “simple girl.”
Looking back, Eleanor could hardly explain why she’d married Mike. For most of their marriage he had worked only intermittently—maybe six months total when you add it up between long periods of “finding himself.” He complained he wasn’t appreciated for his talents, but still expected gourmet lunches.
To make ends meet, Eleanor picked up extra hours and after-school programs at the school where she taught. Financial help from Susan was rare. When it did happen, it was usually a new item for her son, with a barb about how his wife couldn’t keep him looking presentable.
The idea of divorce had crossed her mind more than once, but the housing situation kept her stuck. Saving any money was nearly impossible with those bills, and renting meant a big security deposit. No sooner had she opened the apartment door after a long shift than she ran into the waiting mother-in-law…
