Paying for groceries and fruit was fine. I loved Gracie, and it was my choice to spoil her.
However, her husband kept coming to me every few days to borrow a bit of "small change", saying that Gracie kept a tight grip on their money. That started to raise some questions in my mind.
One day, he approached me again, explaining that his car had accidentally scraped someone else's. Since he wanted to settle it privately, he needed some money to pay for the damages. He promised to return the money as soon as he got his next paycheck.
I hesitated for a moment, but then I figured that everyone ran into trouble sometimes, so without a second thought, I withdrew a few thousand dollars and handed it to him.
That evening, during our walk, I told Gracie not to be so tight with money. After all, a man had his pride, and it was hard for him to feel confident if his pockets were empty.
Gracie just smiled, seemingly unbothered.
I kept going, but eventually, she grew impatient and snapped back.
"What's wrong with spending a little money on your son-in-law? Is it only okay for my brother to get money but not for us?"
Her words left me speechless for a good while.
So, my children both thought I was secretly funneling money to the other's family behind their backs.
After that, Gracie started hinting that I should just give her my bank card to manage, so her cunning sister-in-law would not get any bright ideas.
I refused firmly, saying I would be careful about it.
Gracie promised she would not touch a cent of my money, only keep it safe for me. I could access it anytime I wanted.
Still, I did not agree.
Her tone grew sharp. "What do you need all that money for at your age? If you keep it with me, at least it'll be secure.
"Besides, I know how to invest! By the time I'm done, you'll have more money, not less."
I held my ground. I told her that I would spend my own money, and neither my son nor daughter would get a penny from me.
I also expressed my strong opposition to her talk of investing. I told her I was just grateful to hold onto my principal and had no interest in chasing dreams of making more.
Not giving up, she started telling me stories of elderly people living alone who got scammed out of their savings by health supplement salespeople or tricked by phone scammers.
But I remained resolute.
Seeing I would not budge, Gracie seemed a bit saddened.