I tried to pass on the lessons on frugality and conservation that my mother taught me. One stepdaughter got it and the other did not. The one that got it spent summers with her father who struggled more than we did. The other one with a different father who abandoned her just thought we were mean for not getting her more nice things she could show off to her friends.

The latter daughter explained to me how I failed. She told me that Dad’s were supposed to spoil their daughters and give them everything they could even if we had to sacrifice. She said I was supposed to feel like she was my little princess.

In some ways it is understandable. She was abandoned by her own father and I did not treat her special enough so that she felt loved.

TEK