MONEY | RELATIONSHIPS
Love and Money
Can love overcome all adversity?
When I was sixteen, I fell in love with a seventeen-year-old from my school. Tall and blond, his blue eyes would beam with kindness and warmth. Charlie (let’s call him that) was — and still is — one of the brightest people I’ve ever known. He has this about him — an aura of sorts. Light and fresh. He’s a beam of sunlight.
These feelings didn’t land too well with my family. We’re not rich or anything, but I would say a strong middle class — perhaps a bit on the higher side?.. My parents had several small businesses going on as well as respectable jobs. University degrees and white picket fences. Good cars and regular holidays. Weekends out and concert tickets. That kind of life.
Charlie’s family was different. And it didn’t go well with what my parents envisioned for the future.
I remember my mum saying: “Love is important, but you can’t put it on a dinner table. Dear child, you eat bread, not love”
It came as a shock. I grew up in a relatively happy family — my parents taught me values, philosophy and good, respectable ways of life. These kinds of teachings didn’t seem to align with their parental guidance. I was fuming!
