**Diary Entry**
A wedding should be a celebration of love, a moment when two families come together to honour a new union. For a mother, its also a time brimming with emotionwatching her son take such a significant step in life. But for me, that day brought bitterness and loneliness instead of joy and connection.
It began long before the ceremony. My daughter-in-law had never taken to me. There was always a certain coldness in her gaze, as if she preferred to keep conversation with me to the bare minimum.
Living in different cities only widened the gap between us. When I heard the wedding was approaching, Id hoped the occasion might ease the tensionthat her love for my son could soothe old resentments. Sadly, the opposite happened.
On the day itself, I arrived from my hometown, full of expectation. Yet the moment I stepped into the restaurant, something felt off. The tables were beautifully set, filled with cheerful guests, laughter and chatter filling the air except for one. In the farthest corner stood a solitary table with a single chair. And it was mine. The decision had been made by my daughter-in-law.
When I discovered why, I was stunned.
The truth came to me later, and it cut deep. She had insisted I sit apart because, in her view, I “took up too much space” in her husbands life. To her, I was a threat to their marriagean overbearing presence that needed to be kept at bay.
The truth is, I never meant to be an obstacle. Like any mother, I simply loved my sonsometimes clumsily, perhaps too fiercely, but always sincerely. Yet that very love had become the reason for my exclusion.
By placing me at that lone table, my daughter-in-law sent a clear message: from now on, my sons priority was her, not me.
That day, I realised this wedding wasnt just the joining of two people. It was also the quiet unravelling of a mother and son.
**Lesson learned:** Love doesnt always guard against lonelinesssometimes, its the very thing that leaves you sitting alone.
