"Now that Mum had her driver's license, she also began to make regular visits to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I think she was hoping that they'd take an interest in us kids, but it didn't really work out like that. The only one they were really keen on was Billy, and that was because he was the image of Dad. Grandpa always like to have Billy close to him but the rest of us were relegated to the backyard. Our cousins were allowed inside, but we had to stay outside."
~ Sally Morgan
(The "Family and Friends" chapter, page 77 in my ebook.)
"It wasn't that our grandparents disliked us. In fact, they always treated us kindly, in their own way. After all, half of us belonged to Dad. It was the other half they were worried about.
It only took a few months for our regular visits to cease. Sometimes, we bumped into Grandpa in town; Mum was always taking us window-shopping. Grandpa would cry when he saw Billy. I remember once he actually tried to apologise to Mum for Grandma's attitude. 'What can I do, Glad. Ya know what she's like.' Mum just shrugged her shoulders. When we said goodbye, Grandpa would mop his eyes in a resigned kind of way. He always spoke nicely to us, but Grandma ruled the roost."
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"My Place (An Australian Classic)" by Sally Morgan
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