To my children, Tom, Laura, please do not resent me. I know that you have made your feelings for me clear on more than one occasion, but please try to understand that I am just a mother who loves her children too much and is fearful for the future. Maybe one day you children will understand what it is like to be a parent, but even then I do not know if your love will run as deeply as mine does. I simply want the best for you children, and without my guidance, Lord only knows what would happen to you two? You need me to guide you, and I want more than anything for you two to be independent children, but until that day comes, I will continue to pester you two to improve your lives because you only deserve the best.
Laura, sister, I love you dearly, but you need to find a husband, if not you will become dependent on family and be resented. I fear for your future, you're so nervous all the time, and all you do is play with that glass menagerie and Victrola. That darned Victrola! I don't know why you insist on playing those old records all the time because that is not going to bring him back, and I need you to realize this and step out of this fantasy world that you're always living in. Laura, I do not want you to end up with the same fate as me, so find yourself a man, and never let him leave you, you won't survive otherwise. I am an old woman, and I am sure my time will come soon enough, but, Laura, you have a full life ahead of you and you need to take advantage of that and plan for the future, otherwise the past will be filled with regret.
Tom, I know that the two of us don't always get along, but I want the best for you, too. These days, you're becoming more and more like your father, and I want you to be a better man than he was. I know I may nag, but I see what a good man you've become, and I just want even more for you. I fear some days that you will just walk out with little more than a post card sent our way to tell us of your departure. I fear that you will become too much like your father, a drunkard who didn't understand family responsibilities, and I do not wish that fate upon you. I know that those genes will have their ways, and sometimes you can't help it, but I need you to try and think about sister at least because I won't always be here to protect her and remind her to come back to the world. Even if you leave us, promise that you'll come back for Laura, alright?
With much love and regret that I have made myself hateful to my children,
Amanda
EXCELLENT!!
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