As the twelfth daughter-in-law, I feel like I’ve entered the scene in the middle of Act 6
Rather, as the twelfth daughter-in-law, I feel like I’ve entered the scene in the middle of Act 6 and I’m trying to figure out the characters and plot as the play continues to unfold.
There’s the complex relationship between my mother-in-law and her mother. The frantic dusting of the already clean sideboards before Bubby arrives, the tasting and re-tasting of the food, and the setting out of elegant crystal and china before she joins the seudah.
Everyone knows to be on their best behavior during the meals – not so much for Bubby who, at this age, doesn’t see and hear it all, but for her daughter.
And I wonder, how did this story unfold when my mother-in-law was a young mother of 26? A teenager of 16? A little girl of 6? Is this the story of a once-young mother, forever trying to fulfill her mother’s high Hungarian expectations? Or the story of an insecure little girl growing up between many sisters? I don’t know, and probably never will.
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