My Granddaughter Spat In My Dinner Plate And Said, "Mom Says You Deserve It" — Transcript
Full transcript
- 0:00My 10-year-old granddaughter leaned
- 0:02across the table, spat into my mashed
- 0:04potatoes, and said, "Mom says you
- 0:08deserve it."
- 0:09I was 66 years old, sitting at the head
- 0:12of the table in the house my late
- 0:14ex-husband and I paid off in 1998,
- 0:18and I had just been spit on by a child I
- 0:21had driven to school for 2 years.
- 0:24Wherever you're listening from right
- 0:25now, I'd love to know.
- 0:28Leave the name of your town in the
- 0:29comments.
- 0:31My name is Barbara Crawford. I I lost my
- 0:34husband Bruce 5 years ago this November.
- 0:37He left me a paid-off house in a quiet
- 0:40part of Columbus, Ohio, and a savings
- 0:43account he had spent 40 years building
- 0:45one overtime shift at a time.
- 0:48I believed then that a quiet house was a
- 0:50peaceful house. I had not yet learned
- 0:53that quiet can just be the sound of
- 0:55people taking from you.
- 0:572 years ago, my daughter Kelly, her
- 1:00husband Darren, and their daughter
- 1:02Violet moved into my spare rooms.
- 1:05"They needed 3 months," Kelly said.
- 1:07"Just long enough to save a down
- 1:09payment." 3 months turned into 6, then
- 1:1312, then 24, and somewhere in there, I
- 1:17became the cook, the laundress, the
- 1:19babysitter, and the bank.
- 1:21That night, I had spent 3 hours on a
- 1:24roast chicken. I made the mashed
- 1:26potatoes the way Bruce liked them, with
- 1:29too much butter and the skins left in. I
- 1:32set out the good napkins, which I don't
- 1:35know why I still did.
- 1:37Kelly sat down without a word and went
- 1:39straight to her phone.
- 1:41Darren dropped into his chair
- 1:43and complained about the traffic on 270
- 1:46as if a part-time schedule at the tire
- 1:48warehouse were a battle he had barely
- 1:51survived.
- 1:52Violet pushed her green beans around
- 1:54with her fork.
- 1:56"Sit up straight, sweetheart, and eat
- 1:58something," I said. I said it gently. I
- 2:02have said it gently a hundred times.
- 2:05Violet stopped poking. She looked at me
- 2:07with flat, patient eyes.
- 2:10The way you'd look at a vending machine
- 2:12that had taken your dollar. Then, she
- 2:15leaned forward, worked her mouth, and
- 2:17spat right into the middle of my plate.
- 2:21The kitchen went still.
- 2:22I could hear the refrigerator humming.
- 2:26I looked at Kelly. I waited for the
- 2:28scolding, the gasp, the Violet, "Ann,
- 2:31apologize this second." What I got was
- 2:34Violet smiling, proud of herself, and
- 2:36then those words, "Mom says you deserve
- 2:39it."
- 2:40Kelly pressed her fingers to her lips,
- 2:42and I saw her shoulders shake.
- 2:45She was laughing.
- 2:47Darren chuckled and shook his head, like
- 2:49the kid had done a card trick.
- 2:51"Oh, relax, Barbara," he said. "She's
- 2:54just playing around. Don't be so
- 2:56sensitive."
- 2:58I didn't scream. I didn't throw the
- 3:00plate.
- 3:01I want to tell you I felt hurt, because
- 3:04that's what I expected to feel, but
- 3:06there was nothing there.
- 3:08What I felt was cold and very clear,
- 3:11like the moment after you wipe a foggy
- 3:13window.
- 3:14I folded my napkin and set it beside the
- 3:16ruined plate. I stood up, took my keys
- 3:20off the hook by the back door, and
- 3:22walked toward the front.
- 3:24"Where are you going?"
- 3:26Kelly called, finally looking up from
- 3:28her phone, irritated. "We're not done
- 3:31eating."
- 3:33I didn't answer her.
- 3:35I walked out of the house I owned and
- 3:37left them sitting in it.
- 3:39By the time I turned the key in my
- 3:41Buick, I already knew what the first
- 3:44thing was that I was going to do.
- 3:46I drove until I found a 24-hour diner
- 3:49off the highway, the kind with a
- 3:51rotating pie case and a waitress who
- 3:54calls you hon.
- 3:56I took the corner booth, ordered black
- 3:59coffee, and took my tablet out of my
- 4:01purse.
- 4:02Then, I did the thing I had avoided for
- 4:042 years.
- 4:06I opened the bank accounts and I read
- 4:08every line.
- 4:09I didn't cry. I took notes.
- 4:11It wasn't only the electric bill that
- 4:13had doubled or the grocery runs that had
- 4:16somehow become two a week.
- 4:18It was the lifestyle.
- 4:20Kelly's car insurance on that big white
- 4:22SUV was on my auto pay.
- 4:25Darren's gym membership came out of my
- 4:27checking. Four phone lines, five
- 4:30streaming services, Violet's gymnastics
- 4:32classes at $340 a month.
- 4:36And the travel meets on top of that.
- 4:38I had agreed to each one for a reason
- 4:40that felt small at the time.
- 4:43Violet needs something to do.
- 4:45Kelly's job pays so little.
- 4:48Darren is between things.
- 4:50To the woman at the next booth who might
- 4:52wonder how a grown woman lets this
- 4:54happen, I'll tell you.
- 4:56It happens one yes at a time.
- 4:59Every time I brought it up, Kelly would
- 5:01sigh the way she'd sighed since she was
- 5:0314 and say,
- 5:05"Mom, do you want us out on the street?
- 5:08Do you want Violet in a shelter?"
- 5:11And I, who was so afraid of being alone
- 5:13in that big house that I would have paid
- 5:15almost anything to hear footsteps
- 5:18upstairs, would back down.
- 5:21I opened a spreadsheet and added it up
- 5:23for the last 6 months.
- 5:25It came to more than I paid for my
- 5:27Buick.
- 5:28And then, a few lines below that, I
- 5:31found something that made my coffee go
- 5:33cold in my hand.
- 5:35Three charges to an electronics
- 5:37retailer, all on the credit card I kept
- 5:40for emergencies.
- 5:41One was for $2,900.
- 5:45Another was a graphics card. I knew the
- 5:47card number by heart because I had never
- 5:50given it to anyone.
- 5:52But I could picture it sitting in the
- 5:54drawer where I kept the spare keys, the
- 5:57drawer in the hall that Darren walked
- 6:00past every day.
- 6:02They weren't saving for a house.
- 6:04They were living inside my life and
- 6:07teaching their daughter to spit on the
- 6:09woman who paid for it.
- 6:12The coffee tasted bitter. It matched my
- 6:14mood perfectly.
- 6:16I opened my banking settings and started
- 6:18clicking.
- 6:19I removed my cards from every digital
- 6:22wallet on every device in my house.
- 6:26I canceled the auto pay on Kelly's car
- 6:28insurance. I logged into each streaming
- 6:31account and changed the password, then
- 6:33selected the option to sign out of all
- 6:35devices. Each click felt like a link of
- 6:38chain dropping off my shoulders.
- 6:41I wasn't a victim of their greed, I
- 6:43thought. I was their enabler. But an
- 6:46enabler can resign.
- 6:48My phone buzzed against the table.
- 6:50Kelly.
- 6:51You ruined dinner by storming out.
- 6:54Violet is upset. Don't come back until
- 6:57you're ready to apologize.
- 6:59I read it twice. She honestly believed
- 7:02she was the one with the power.
- 7:04She had no idea that the floor under her
- 7:06whole comfortable life had my name on it
- 7:09in ink at the county recorder's office.
- 7:13I did not drive home that night.
- 7:16I checked into a clean plain hotel two
- 7:18towns over because I knew that if I
- 7:21drove down my own street and saw the
- 7:23lights on in my windows, I might walk in
- 7:26and apologize out of pure habit.
- 7:29Sitting on the edge of the bed, I opened
- 7:31the family phone plan. Four lines, all
- 7:34under my name. Mine, Kelly's, Darren's,
- 7:37and Violet's tablet.
- 7:39Three clicks and I suspended all but
- 7:41mine.
- 7:42The screen confirmed it. Paused.
- 7:45Then I picked up my phone and answered
- 7:47Kelly's text. I typed slowly and I felt
- 7:50every word.
- 7:52Don't contact us again.
- 7:54I know that's not what a woman who owns
- 7:57a house and a daughter is supposed to
- 7:59say.
- 8:00But I had written it from the same place
- 8:02the napkin got folded.
- 8:05I pressed send and turned the phone all
- 8:07the way off.
- 8:09I slept like a stone. No thumping from
- 8:12Darren's late-night gaming. No Kelly
- 8:14knocking at 6:00 to ask if I could watch
- 8:17Violet while she ran errands.
- 8:20I pulled the heavy blanket up to my chin
- 8:22and for the first time in 2 years, I
- 8:25slept all the way through the night.
- 8:28In the morning, the sun came through the
- 8:30curtains. I turned my phone on and it
- 8:33lit up like a slot machine.
- 8:35Missed calls.
- 8:37A pile of texts, most of which had come
- 8:40through the house Wi-Fi from Kelly's
- 8:42laptop.
- 8:43Because with the cell service shut off,
- 8:46that was the only way they could reach
- 8:47me.
- 8:48Mom, my phone isn't working. Did you
- 8:51forget to pay the bill?
- 8:53Netflix is down. Fix it.
- 8:56Mom, where are you? We need groceries
- 8:58for Violet's lunch.
- 9:00They thought it was a mistake.
- 9:02That's the part I almost laughed at.
- 9:05They thought I was forgetful or old or
- 9:07confused.
- 9:09It never crossed their minds that the
- 9:11Bank of Mom had permanently closed its
- 9:13doors.
- 9:15I didn't answer any of them. I showered,
- 9:17dressed, went down to the lobby, and had
- 9:20toast and coffee. Then I called my son.
- 9:24David lives outside Dallas with his wife
- 9:26and two boys. For 2 years, he told me,
- 9:29kindly and then less kindly, that Kelly
- 9:32was using me.
- 9:33I had told him he didn't understand.
- 9:36I'd been wrong, and I knew he knew it.
- 9:39Mom, is everything okay?
- 9:41I'm fine, honey, I said, but I'm taking
- 9:44my house back today.
- 9:46He was quiet for a second, and then I
- 9:49heard him let out a breath that was half
- 9:51a laugh.
- 9:52It's about time. Want me on a plane?
- 9:55No, I know exactly what to do.
- 9:58What I knew was this.
- 10:00I'm not a lawyer, and I was not going to
- 10:03do something foolish that could land me
- 10:05in trouble.
- 10:06Kelly was my daughter,
- 10:08not a stranger off the street, and the
- 10:11law gives people who live in your home
- 10:13certain rights, even when they've
- 10:15overstayed their welcome by 2 years. So,
- 10:18after breakfast, I did not run to a
- 10:20hardware store.
- 10:22I drove to the office of Gregory Powell,
- 10:24the attorney who had handled Bruce's
- 10:26estate.
- 10:28His secretary squeezed me in before 10.
- 10:31Gregory listened to the whole thing.
- 10:34The dinner, the accounts, the credit
- 10:36card, and he didn't say a word until I
- 10:38was finished.
- 10:40Then, he took off his glasses.
- 10:43Barbara, I want to be sure of one thing.
- 10:46Did you ever put anything in writing
- 10:47with them?
- 10:48A lease, a loan, any kind of agreement?
- 10:52No, just my word that they could stay.
- 10:55Then, they're tenants at will, which
- 10:58means a written 30-day notice to vacate,
- 11:01delivered properly.
- 11:03I'll prepare it today.
- 11:06You do not change the locks while
- 11:07they're living there, and you do not put
- 11:10their things on the porch. If you do,
- 11:12they can turn this around on you, and I
- 11:14will not let that happen.
- 11:17He tapped the statements I had printed
- 11:19in the lobby.
- 11:20Now, this card.
- 11:22Did you authorize Darren to use it?
- 11:24No.
- 11:26Then, that's not a family disagreement.
- 11:29That's unauthorized use of a credit
- 11:31card.
- 11:32I'd like to give them a chance to make
- 11:34it right before anyone talks to the
- 11:36police.
- 11:37A repayment agreement signed.
- 11:40Let's see how they respond.
- 11:43By 1:00, the notice was typed, signed,
- 11:46and in the hands of a process server.
- 11:49I had also asked Gregory to to add one
- 11:51more thing.
- 11:53An itemized statement of everything I'd
- 11:54paid for in the last 6 months,
- 11:57with the total at the bottom.
- 11:59$22,400,
- 12:02give or take. I wanted them to see the
- 12:04number.
- 12:06I wanted it in black and white, where
- 12:08nobody could sigh at it.
- 12:10Around 4:00 that afternoon, I'm told,
- 12:14Darren answered the door and the man
- 12:16handed him a certified envelope.
- 12:19I wasn't there. I was at a hardware
- 12:21store after all, though not the way I'd
- 12:24imagined it that morning. I was buying a
- 12:26keypad lock for the front door to put in
- 12:29the day they left. And because I am 66
- 12:33and not a saint, a pack of those thick
- 12:35black garbage bags I'd planned to use in
- 12:38a very different way.
- 12:40I took them home and put them in the
- 12:42pantry unopened. That was enough.
- 12:46I stayed with my friend Donna across
- 12:48town for the next three nights. I could
- 12:50have gone back to my own house.
- 12:53The notice was served. The law was on my
- 12:56side.
- 12:57But I did not want to hear it and I
- 13:00didn't want to give anyone the chance to
- 13:02turn the front hall into a theater.
- 13:04Donna made me chicken and rice and let
- 13:07me sit on her porch in a blanket.
- 13:10On Sunday morning, Kelly did what Kelly
- 13:12does when she can't get her way
- 13:14directly. She went online.
- 13:17Donna's phone buzzed, then mine.
- 13:21There was Kelly's post on Facebook, long
- 13:24and tearful, with a photo of Violet
- 13:26looking wretched.
- 13:28I never thought my own mother would
- 13:30throw us out with no warning.
- 13:32We are sleeping in a cramped room.
- 13:34Please pray for our family during this
- 13:36toxic and abusive time. Financial
- 13:39control is a form of violence.
- 13:41By lunch, people from my church were
- 13:44commenting. A cousin from Dayton.
- 13:47Someone I hadn't heard from since
- 13:49Bruce's funeral wrote, "Praying for you,
- 13:51sweet girl."
- 13:53My sister Janet called and her voice had
- 13:56its big sister edge. "Barbara, what in
- 13:59the world are you doing to that poor
- 14:01child?"
- 14:02I did not raise my voice.
- 14:05"Kelly is 41 years old, Janet. She has a
- 14:08husband. For 2 years they've lived in my
- 14:11house without paying a dime and out of
- 14:13my accounts they've been paying for
- 14:15their their cars and their phones and a
- 14:17gaming computer.
- 14:19I stopped paying. That's all I did. If
- 14:22you feel so terrible for them, I'd love
- 14:25for you to take them in. Your guest room
- 14:27is empty.
- 14:29There was a long silence on the line.
- 14:32"Well," Janet said finally, "I didn't
- 14:34know that."
- 14:36"No one does. Kelly leaves things out.
- 14:38Have a nice Sunday."
- 14:40I did not comment on the post. I did not
- 14:43post my own side.
- 14:45I blocked Kelly, silenced my phone, and
- 14:49went to sit in Donna's garden, where the
- 14:51maple leaves were turning and the whole
- 14:53world seemed to be going about its
- 14:55business without me.
- 14:57The notice was clear. They had 30 days.
- 15:00I went home on Monday to my own house
- 15:03while Kelly and Darren were out.
- 15:05Darren's sedan was gone, and so was the
- 15:08SUV.
- 15:09The kitchen sink was stacked with
- 15:11dishes. Violet's shoes were in the hall.
- 15:14Darren's muddy sneakers were on Bruce's
- 15:16good sofa.
- 15:17And the sight of them nearly set me off
- 15:20until I remembered that none of it was
- 15:23mine to clean anymore.
- 15:25I didn't touch their things. I took my
- 15:27own things. I moved Bruce's watch, my
- 15:30mother's ring, and the box of papers
- 15:33from the study into my closet and locked
- 15:36the door. Then I went upstairs and
- 15:39looked at the spare room they'd been
- 15:40using, the room that was once Kelly's
- 15:43own bedroom when she was little. And I
- 15:46decided I would paint it the day they
- 15:48left.
- 15:49On the Wednesday of that week, I went to
- 15:51Kroger for tomatoes.
- 15:53I was holding one in each hand when a
- 15:56cart rammed into mine so hard it knocked
- 15:59the basket against my hip.
- 16:01It was Kelly. She was gripping the
- 16:04handle with white knuckles. No makeup.
- 16:07Hair in a clip. She looked tired in a
- 16:10way I had not seen since she was a
- 16:12newborn.
- 16:13"Are you happy now?" she said, her voice
- 16:16shaking. "Darren's parents said "We can
- 16:19stay a week. A week. We need a deposit
- 16:22for an apartment, Mom. $3,000.
- 16:25I know you have it."
- 16:26"I'm not your bank, Kelly."
- 16:29"You're my mother." She stepped in
- 16:31closer.
- 16:32People in the produce aisle had started
- 16:34to look. "You owe me." "Violet is
- 16:37miserable." "She asked me if her grandma
- 16:39hates her."
- 16:41"Violet spat in my dinner." I said not
- 16:43loudly, "Because you told her I deserved
- 16:46it."
- 16:47"It was a joke." "You blew it out of
- 16:49proportion." "Because you're a bitter,
- 16:51lonely old woman."
- 16:53I did not step back. I did not look
- 16:56away.
- 16:57I let that sit between us for a second,
- 17:00and then I looked down at her arm.
- 17:02She was carrying a leather handbag
- 17:05I had bought her for her birthday last
- 17:07year. $800.
- 17:10On her wrist was the smart watch I'd
- 17:11paid for in the spring, glowing with
- 17:14some alert.
- 17:15"You need a deposit." I said quietly.
- 17:18She nodded, and I saw the flicker in her
- 17:21eyes, the old hopeful look. The one that
- 17:24says, "The water is about to give.
- 17:273,000. We'll pay you back."
- 17:29"Sell the bag."
- 17:32Her mouth opened.
- 17:33"Sell the watch. Tell Darren to sell the
- 17:36computer he bought on my card. You have
- 17:39plenty of assets, Kelly. Be an adult and
- 17:42sell them."
- 17:43She stood frozen in front of the
- 17:45tomatoes with her mouth half open.
- 17:48I put my two tomatoes in my basket,
- 17:51turned my cart around, and walked toward
- 17:54the checkout.
- 17:55At the end of the aisle, I heard a woman
- 17:57say softly, "Good for her." I didn't
- 18:00turn around, but I held onto that all
- 18:03the way to my car.
- 18:04A week before the deadline, I got a text
- 18:07from Darren, short and stiff, saying
- 18:10they had hired a moving company for
- 18:12Saturday morning. I sent back one word,
- 18:15"Acknowledged."
- 18:17The truck came at 9:00.
- 18:19Two men in company shirts and Darren
- 18:22carrying boxes without a word to me.
- 18:25I didn't hide in the backyard this time.
- 18:27I took a kitchen chair out to the front
- 18:29hall, sat down with a cup of coffee, and
- 18:32watched. Bruce used to say that if you
- 18:35want things done properly, you stay and
- 18:37watch the movers.
- 18:39And I decided that sounded like good
- 18:41sense.
- 18:42It was a good thing I did. I saw the
- 18:45first of Bruce's tool boxes go out the
- 18:47door in Darren's arms, the red metal one
- 18:51with a dent in the corner.
- 18:53"That's Bruce's," I said.
- 18:55Darren stopped at the threshold.
- 18:58"I figured it was just in the garage.
- 19:01It's been in the garage since 1987.
- 19:04It isn't yours."
- 19:06"Barbara, come on.
- 19:08Put it down."
- 19:10He looked at the movers who had stopped,
- 19:13and then at the neighbor, Mrs. Mills,
- 19:16who was standing on her lawn in her
- 19:17robe, pretending to water the
- 19:19hydrangeas.
- 19:21He set the tool box down.
- 19:23I made him take the rest of the garage
- 19:25things out of the truck, one at a time
- 19:27while I stood with my arms folded.
- 19:30Two nice drill sets, a leaf blower, a
- 19:34framed photo of Bruce on a boat. He had
- 19:37put them in the truck to be safe.
- 19:39When it was done, I walked through the
- 19:41house with a clipboard and my phone. I
- 19:43photographed every room. I noted two
- 19:46cracked tiles, a hole in the drywall, a
- 19:49burn on the carpet in Violet's room.
- 19:52I added a line to my list.
- 19:54Then Gregory Powell's paperwork came out
- 19:57of my folder.
- 19:59I had asked him for it Thursday.
- 20:01"Darren, Kelly, I'd like you to read
- 20:04this before you go."
- 20:06It was a repayment agreement.
- 20:08$18,000,
- 20:11which was the part of the 22 I could
- 20:13prove on paper, payable at $300 a month,
- 20:17secured by a judgment if they defaulted.
- 20:20It also included the cost of the
- 20:22unauthorized charges on my card, written
- 20:25out line by line, and a clause that said
- 20:28if the agreement was signed, I would not
- 20:31file a report.
- 20:33Darren read it and went gray. Barbara,
- 20:35we can't pay this.
- 20:37You paid a lot of things for 2 years
- 20:40that you couldn't afford.
- 20:42You'll learn to afford this one.
- 20:45This is extortion.
- 20:47No, Darren.
- 20:48Extortion is when someone takes your
- 20:50money.
- 20:51I'm the one who got robbed.
- 20:53Gregory says this is the generous
- 20:55version.
- 20:56You can sign it, or you can explain the
- 20:58graphics card to a detective. I took a
- 21:01breath.
- 21:02Take your time.
- 21:04The movers are on the clock, though.
- 21:06Kelly was crying quietly in the front
- 21:08hall. She had stopped trying to make eye
- 21:11contact.
- 21:12She picked up the pen first.
- 21:15Darren stood a long minute over the
- 21:17kitchen counter and then signed under
- 21:19her name, pressing so hard the pen
- 21:22nearly went through the paper.
- 21:24I wasn't smiling. I didn't feel
- 21:26victorious. I felt like a woman closing
- 21:29a book she should have closed a long
- 21:31time ago.
- 21:33By 11:00, the house was empty. The
- 21:35moving truck pulled away with Darren
- 21:37behind the wheel of his sedan and Kelly
- 21:40beside him. Violet had been waiting in
- 21:42the back seat the entire time.
- 21:45I had seen her face through the window,
- 21:47small and pinched.
- 21:49She looked at me and she didn't spit or
- 21:51smile or say a thing.
- 21:54She just looked.
- 21:55Kelly came back to the doorway alone,
- 21:58holding her spare house key in her hand.
- 22:01She laid it on the hall table.
- 22:03We're done, she said. It's empty.
- 22:06Thank you.
- 22:08Are you ever going to talk to us again?
- 22:10Her voice cracked in the middle.
- 22:13When you can come into my life as a
- 22:15guest instead of a creditor, we'll have
- 22:18coffee, I said.
- 22:20Until then, work on raising your
- 22:22daughter better than you treated your
- 22:24mother.
- 22:26She flinched like I had slapped her. She
- 22:28waited, I think, for me to soften and
- 22:31reach for her, the way I always had.
- 22:34When I didn't, she turned and walked
- 22:35out. The new keypad lock beeped behind
- 22:38her.
- 22:39The sound was small and satisfying.
- 22:42I painted the spare room that afternoon.
- 22:45Bright, clean white, windows open, the
- 22:48October air coming in sharp and cold.
- 22:52With every stroke of the roller, I felt
- 22:54a little more like myself.
- 22:56That was 6 months ago.
- 22:59The quiet in my house has changed. It
- 23:01used to be a held breath.
- 23:03Now it's light.
- 23:05I hear the clock in the hall and the
- 23:07furnace turning on and the neighbor's
- 23:09dog down the street, and none of it asks
- 23:12anything of me.
- 23:14I did not get back the 22,000.
- 23:17I'll see about 18 of it over 5 years.
- 23:20$300 a month. The first payment's late
- 23:23and a little short, and eventually,
- 23:26because Gregory sent a polite letter
- 23:29right on time.
- 23:30The money was never the point. It was
- 23:32the price of learning something, and I'm
- 23:3566, so the lesson came expensive.
- 23:39Kelly's SUV was repossessed in January
- 23:42because she couldn't make the payments
- 23:44without my insurance and my cash, and
- 23:46I'm told she cried in the dealership
- 23:48parking lot.
- 23:50Darren went to full-time hours at the
- 23:52warehouse and then a second job on
- 23:54weekends.
- 23:56Kelly learned to cook. They live in a
- 23:58cramped two-bedroom apartment on the
- 24:00east side. I'm told the Wi-Fi password
- 24:03is on the refrigerator and that it is
- 24:06not mine.
- 24:08David came up from Texas last month and
- 24:10stood in the white-painted room that is
- 24:13now my sewing and reading room
- 24:16with a quilt in progress on the table.
- 24:19"You look 10 years younger," he said,
- 24:21and hugged me so hard my glasses
- 24:24slipped.
- 24:25He was right. My blood pressure is down.
- 24:28I garden, I volunteer at the library on
- 24:31Tuesdays, and on Fridays I have friends
- 24:34over for quiet dinners where no one
- 24:36spits in the food.
- 24:38I see Kelly once a month at a coffee
- 24:40shop halfway between us.
- 24:42Our talks are short and mostly about the
- 24:45weather.
- 24:46She doesn't ask for money anymore
- 24:48because she knows the answer before the
- 24:50question leaves her mouth.
- 24:52Violet hasn't come.
- 24:54Kelly says she's adjusting. Last month
- 24:56though, a white envelope came in my
- 24:58mailbox, no return address, and inside
- 25:02was a card with a drawing of a roast
- 25:03chicken in crayon and four words in a
- 25:06child's crooked handwriting.
- 25:09I'm sorry, Grandma. V.
- 25:12I don't know who made her write it.
- 25:14I've decided I don't need to know.
- 25:16I put it on the refrigerator.
- 25:19I'm not angry anymore.
- 25:21Anger takes energy and I'd rather spend
- 25:23mine on my garden.
- 25:25What I learned, I learned the hard way.
- 25:28Blood is not a guarantee of respect and
- 25:30love should never be a blank check.
- 25:33Tonight I made a small roast chicken and
- 25:36a bowl of mashed potatoes with too much
- 25:38butter and the skins left in.
- 25:41I set the table for one,
- 25:43poured a glass of white wine, and ate
- 25:45while it was hot in perfect peace.
- 25:48The house was quiet and the doors were
- 25:51locked and the only keys in the world
- 25:54were in my pocket.
- 25:56Helping the ones we love is one of the
- 25:58most natural things in the world
- 26:01and it is never easy to know where it
- 26:03should stop.
- 26:04Where do you draw the line between
- 26:06helping a grown child and being treated
- 26:10like a bank?
About this transcript
This page contains the full transcript of My Granddaughter Spat In My Dinner Plate And Said, "Mom Says You Deserve It" by Quiet Bloodlines, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 4,096 words across 665 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.
What you can do with it
Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to choose a caption track available on the video.
Free YouTube transcript tool
YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, caption language selection, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.