Gerda's Red Shoes A banal story of a woman caught my eye on the Internet. A girl lived with her mother and everything was fine with them. They understood each other perfectly, drank tea in the kitchen in the evenings, laughed and kept secrets. The girl studied diligently, then worked successfully. At the right time, I met a good guy, started dating, fell in love and decided to get married. And then mom got sick. And her illness worsened every time her daughter started talking about her plans. The guy waited and waited, but the girl decided to stay with her mother so as not to upset her. Time has passed. And then, one day, my mother, chirping cheerfully, watered her favorite flowers on the balcony and window sills, and her forty-three-year-old daughter suddenly sadly said: “Well, you and I have grown old, and no one needs us.” Readers vying with each other began to convince each other that at 43 life is just beginning, everything can still be done. And I remembered the fairy tale “The Snow Queen”: ... Gerda’s red shoes led her to the old witch’s house. “An old, old woman in a large straw hat, painted with wonderful flowers, came out of the house, leaning on a stick. “Oh, you poor baby!” said the old woman. “How did you end up on such a big fast river and climb so far?” With these words The old woman entered the water, hooked the boat with her stick, pulled it to the shore and dropped Gerda off. Gerda was very happy that she finally found herself on land, although she was afraid of someone else’s old woman. “Well, let’s go, tell me who you are and how you got here.” got it? - said the old woman. Then the old woman took Gerda by the hand, took her to her house and locked the door. - I've wanted to have such a cute girl for a long time - said the old lady - You'll see how well we are. let's live with you! And she continued to comb the girl's curls, and the longer she combed, the more Gerda forgot her sworn brother Kai - the old woman knew how to cast a spell and did magic only occasionally, but now she really wanted to leave; Gerda was with her. And so she went into the garden, touched all the rose bushes with her stick, and as they stood in full bloom, they all went deep, deep into the ground, and there was no trace of them left. The old woman was afraid that when Gerda saw her roses she would remember her own, and then about Kai, and would run away. Having done her job, the old woman took Gerda to the flower garden. Gerda jumped for joy and played among the flowers until the sun set behind the tall cherry trees. Then they put her in a wonderful bed with red silk feather beds stuffed with blue violets; the girl fell asleep and had dreams such as only a queen sees on her wedding day." But one day the roses on the old witch's hat reminded Gerda of Kay and she immediately left the magic garden, pushing back the rusty bolt of the creaking gate. Even the cold, cold one didn't frighten her. rainy autumn, because Gerda had a goal. And I felt terribly sorry for the sweet girl who grew old in the darkness of her kind mother’s magical garden, and not a single damn rose showed her the way to an independent life, albeit full of dangers and adventures, but her own. “Yes, dear, you are completely free! True, my life will collapse without you, but that’s okay." We all want to be kind and good for our children, to protect them from problems, to provide straw. But life requires that at a certain moment a good mother becomes an evil stepmother and pushes the grown-up child out of the nest Otherwise, his wings will never open and he will not feel the joy of independent flight. There is a risk, but it’s worth it. Behind the nettles in the dark forest or How I was carried into psychology (a fairy tale) Another article on this topic: How to kick an adult son out of the house.?