Decadence

It was Highflyer's birthday last Saturday and I booked a night at a lovely 5* hotel with spa and luxurious breakfast on the 18th floor...in Vienna. I had always wanted to spend a night in my own city and we both loved the experience. Needless to say, this is an absolute luxury and out of budget for many people and I had also mentally braced myself for justifying this spontaneous gift to my mum. Perhaps only a year ago her reflex would have been to respond with "well, you do you, but I'd much rather have donated the money to charity..." thus giving me a little guilt-trip. Even though she immediately asked me how much I had paid and I automatically rounded the sum down to the next 100, ahem, she didn't scold me, but rather said what she had said quite a few times now that she is widowed: right you are, you have to enjoy life while you can, there's no point in waiting and you never know that will happen. There really has been a shift in her attitude towards money and treating herself and others (even though she has always been generous when it comes to gifts) and I am very happy to see that. Even though I am the child, I sometimes almost want to nod approvingly when she fails to reprimand my extravagance and say something along the lines of "that's my girl!" as this has long been my personal attitude even though I definitely did not get it from my parents.