At the instigation of my son- her brother- my married daughter had arranged for the whole family to go out for lunch on Mother's Day yesterday.
Unfortunately, she was recovering from a virus and thought she shouldn't come as she was still coughing.
So, my son, SiL and two young GC had a lovely lunch together. My son gave me a loving card and paid for half the meal..
However, I never received a card or greeting from my daughter. This is the first year ever she has not acknowledged the day.
My SiL says he's having a difficult time with her and appeals to me to talk to her, which I have a few times neutrally. She's got everything she wants materially. SiL gives in to her for a quiet life and I'm generally always on call to babysit or help out, even though I have a full life. She doesn't work and has a part time housekeeper.
When I phoned her after the lunch, she sounded cold When I asked what her children had given her for Mother's Day, she reluctantly wished me a happy mother's day as an afterthought.
I didn't take it further, but I'm hurt. She is becoming very anxious; can no longer drive on motorways or go on the underground. She won't see a therapist because she says the last one intimated something about her FiL, which wasn't true.
Should I just leave her to it? Her husband keeps telling me how difficult she is, but I just say marriage is hard sometimes, to stay neutral. Even her MiL comments to me about her aloofness.
My DH passed away suddenly 5 years ago and she says she's still grieving.
