Even dead, my mother in law remained stubborn

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Ohhh…my mother in law was one strange woman. She had little patience for anything that wasn’t her idea and would refuse to go along unless everyone agreed to do things her way. This was particularly tough for us (her son’s wives) because we had to defer to her ‘almighty’ wisdom in an assortment of matters including personal decisions that should be strictly between our husbands and us. Being her daughter in law was trying!

One day, the sad news came that she had passed. I cried – I mean, the woman terrorized me through most of my marriage but then .... Truth be told, there were times when her stubborn nature helped things along in my home, like when she insisted on the schools my kids would go to (which happened to be the same ones I wanted but my husband would not agree – shame on me, I know!), and a few other issues like that. So in all, her stubborn nature had its upsides and downsides – though, mostly downsides. But her most stubborn behaviour happened on our way home to bury her. 

There were many arrangements to be made for her burial so my husband took off for our hometown early enough. Just before her death, my mother in law had been staying in a private hospital so I was charged with the responsibility of clearing her stuff and bringing it along with me on the trip to our hometown.

I was travelling with my driver and sister in law in a brand new SUV. Hours into the journey, our car just stopped on the highway without warning. Luckily, we were at the slow lane so we could safely come down to check out the problem; the driver could not discern anything. This was a brand new vehicle and without signs or reason, it packed up. Other motorists stopped along the way to help but no one could figure out what the problem was. Someone helped us call a mechanic and it was the same thing – nothing visible could be seen to be wrong with the car.

While we debated on our next step, another motorist came along and stopped to ask if we needed help. We explained our situation and the man quietly asked us why we were travelling home. We told him. He asked what kind of person my mother in law was and if we were travelling with her stuff, and we stepped back – why was this stranger asking us strange and very irrelevant questions. I became scared – the highway is not the best place to get stuck because it was not safe. When he noticed our worry, he smiled and said he didn’t mean any harm and that he just wanted to help. According to him, he’s experienced something like our situation before so had an idea how to deal with it. He asked us if we believed in the supernatural and we said we did. Then, he asked us to speak to our mother in law – call on her and ask her to stop being petty and let us continue our journey in peace. He explained that our problem wasn’t mechanical – it was supernatural and our mother in law was the cause. The stubborn woman, even dead, probably was still resisting doing something she didn’t want and we needed to warn her to behave herself.

My sister in law and I looked at each other – we didn’t know what to make of the strange man’s statement. I shook my head but I could see my sister in law was considering it. She said we had nothing to lose by doing this so why not?

So, standing like two crazy people behind our car, we began to talk – my sister in law went first. She picked up one of my mother in law’s stuff and called out her name. She began to ask her why she was doing this to us and warned that she was putting us in danger.   As she spoke, the man stood aside and watched us with a very serious expression, I joined in. I complained bitterly that we were only trying to go home in peace and give her the befitting burial she deserved so why was she doing something that could endanger our lives on this lonely road, or would she want someone else in her precious family to join her in the grave at this time? We spoke for a few minutes, lamenting, berating and generally scolding her. It was weird but strangely, it was also cleansing as it gave us an opportunity to vent.

When we were done (I’m sure the driver thought we’d run mad), the man asked us to try the car again. Believe it or not, the car started immediately and we, involuntarily, all shouted with shock and delight. I’m telling you, it was amazing and crazy and incredible – all at the same time.

So we continued on our journey home and when we got there, we told our husbands but they laughed at us and said it was probably a fluke or coincidence and we should stop talking crazy. Well, my sister in law and I – we both know what happened that day. That stubborn mother in law of ours was stubborn to the end …but we gave it to her, finally. I know she rests in peace now. But talk about being stubborn to the end!