By Kashmira Kapadia, October 7, 2019 — Being an only child, the only other family I had growing up were my mother and father. Things were very different in the late 1950s in India. Traditionally, when a young girl got married, she would move in with her husband and his parents, leaving her own family behind. Since I had no siblings or anyone to take care of my parents after I left home, leaving home after marriage was a very big concern for me. Before I got married to your grandfather, he promised me that he would take care of me and also take responsibility for my parents for the rest of their lives.
After making this promise to me, he certainly fulfilled it and it was one of the most reliving periods of my early life. Instead of me moving in with your grandpa and his parents, we got our own apartment and my parents moved in with us so we were able to look after them and take care of them. This is something I had always worried about when I was a young girl, especially with the very large age gap between my parents and I. I was 21 years old when I got married and by that time, they were quite old, had medical restrictions for many things and often needed assistance. My parents were so important to me and having them live with my husband and me and taking care of them was a pleasure.