The Saga of My Husband, My Mom, and Rent: A Family Drama

Oh, the pleasures of family dynamics; those complex networks of affection, animosity, and, it seems, rent. What if I told you a small story from the front lines of my own soap opera to start things off?

Imagine this: Dad recently passed away and went to the great beyond, leaving Mom sad and alone. So, of course, I propose that she move in with us, partly out of compassion and partly out of sheer guilt. You know, to socialize with the grandchildren and take in the warmth of family.

Now enter my spouse, who has obviously been attending the “How to Be a Loving Family Man” course. His initial response was a firm no, but after some deft haggling on my part, he reluctantly agreed—but only under one condition. The worst part, get ready: my distraught mother would have to pay the rent.

You did really read correctly. Pay rent. in a home that we currently own and are not renting. Start the crying or laughing. His logic? He replied, grinning in a way that I can only characterize as evil, “Your mother is a leech.” “After she moves in with us, she won’t go.”

His reasoning continued, a train on the loose about to crash down a precipice. She simply doesn’t make sense to utilize anything for free when she will consume our food and electricity. This residence is not a hotel, and she has to know that!

With my blood boiling, I knew something was wrong. The reason for this issue is that I wedded a man who seemed to believe he was the Ritz-Carlton’s management. How daring! Here we are, with equal rights to the house, having both contributed to its acquisition, and he’s enacting capitalist regulations as if we were operating a profit-making Airbnb.

The worst part is that my spouse isn’t a horrible person. Really, no. He and my mother have simply disagreed from the beginning. He told me the truth about how he really felt the night he turned into Mr. Rent Collector. “Ever since I met her, your mother has detested me. She wouldn’t feel at ease living with me right now.

I am therefore torn between my mother, who is in great need of her daughter’s support, and my husband, whom I really love despite his imperfections. I ask you, dear reader, the million-dollar question: What should I do? In true dramatic manner. Shall I rent my mother a room or my husband’s empathy?

The world’s strongest boy. He is currently 24 years old

About 15 years ago, Richard Sandrak, who moved from Ukraine to the United States, was called the strongest boy in the world.

Richard started to exercise seriously when he was just a child. And at the age of 8 he could bench-press with more than 30 pounds! At 11 years of age he lifted 53 pounds!

Now he’s 24 years old and it’s hard to call him a jock.

Once he was given the nickname «Little Hercules», he was constantly invited to competitions, TV-shows, commercials, magazines and even movies. That’s why Richard’s family moved to California, so the son could fully realize himself.

Training, nutrition, regime — these points were monitored by the boy’s father — a former world champion in martial arts. Very often the man was criticized for abusing his son and putting a lot of pressure on him.

And when Richard was 11 years old, he called the police when his father assaulted his mother. The man was put in jail for domestic violence.

The boy stopped communicating with his father and no longer recognized him. For a while he was still practicing, but gradually it became less and less.

At the moment Richard says: «I am very proud of my achievements as a child, I am not ashamed of them and I do not try to hide this page of my life from anyone. And he adds: «I just don’t want to live like that anymore.» «They tried to make me look like some kind of abomination of nature.»

Now Richard continues to exercise, but not as fanatically. He runs every morning and also likes skateboarding. By profession, he is a stuntman at the show «Waterworld» in Los Angeles, where he is set on fire at least five times a day, and then he has to dive into the water from a great height.