DEBTS AND HOTEL VISITS
Mrs. Warden was a spender and Mr. Warden made many financial mistakes on the years where she spends money on video games or weekend hotel visits. They both were unemployed and had more credit cards than a couple could manage. All of this were not apparent to me because I was seven, we lived comfortably under a huge mansion of my grandfather who was a former bank director and lawyer. We had five maids and an on-call engineer too. All of them were paid by my grandfather yet Mrs. Warden manages them. She claims to be a stay-at-home mom for me and my sister when she occupies herself with gossip shows from morning to evening. I hated them, but there was almost nothing I can do to ameliorate the situation. Spending with multiple credit cards and relying on cash backs, Mr. Warden caught himself in a mountain of debt. It got to the point where debt collectors would knock on the house. That year, debt collectors were far from eloquent. They can use their fists to get what they demanded. They lied to my grandparents that Mr. Warden is working. They hide and this is, perhaps, the biggest mistake they did together in the marriage.
Why did you spend so much when you had nothing to spend? This question was answered in one of my conversations with Mrs. Warden few years ago. She told me that she made a sacrifice. She wanted her parents to see that she was doing fine, and everything was under control. It seems to me that she thinks highly of herself for not being vigilant with financials in the past. Had my grandfather knew, he would have helped in any way he could. She told me that this is her sacrifice for the family, that I should grow up not knowing that they had something going on. The fights they had during my childhood revealed the secrets she tried to keep from me. I knew they were not in a good financial situation although I did not comprehend the details that led to it. I was too young to think of any resolutions. My world was to deal with pain after pain of overhearing their endless fights. Too many fights to recall, I cannot let myself dig into such bitter memories. At least not today.
The Hypervigilant Child 