Just because Ethel liked to eat wild mushrooms from the mountains near Lake Cushman, Mom had taken a train for an entire day and night to get there and personally pick fresh mushrooms.
She had spent several days on that mountain gathering mushrooms.
By the time she returned home with a big sack slung over her back, she had injured her waist and now needed to be on bedrest for two months.
One evening, as I was leaving work, Buck and Ethel blocked me at the company entrance. They were pushing Mom in a wheelchair.
Standing there, utterly self-righteous, Mom declared, “I’m sick now. You’re my daughter, so it’s only right for you to take care of me. And your sister-in-law’s pregnant.”
As if reading from a script, she added, “According to tradition, as the aunt, you’re supposed to give a cash gift of 3,000 dollars.
“Your sister-in-law needs someone to take care of her during pregnancy, and I also need someone to take care of me. I thought about it and came up with two choices for you.
“First, you give Ethel 30,000 dollars. She can use it to hire a nanny and buy supplements.