A teenaged girl witnesses her widowed mother's attempt to sustain her family.
Adopted from a prize-winning school essay on the subject of 'My Mother,' upon being widowed a mother with a little help from her elder daughter has to run the family laundry on her own. The second daughter, however, has to be sent to live with relatives as the mother cannot afford her.—aghaemi
Story is told by teen daughter. Mother struggles to look after ill son, failing from dust of velvet making workshop, ill husband from overwork in the war, young girl, younger boy cousin and aforementioned teen, while working in family laundry. Son, father, die, but father's brother helps out. Teen daughter is lightly wooed but is fairly innocent and is more concerned about family disruption: the possibility that mother might marry uncle (doesn't happen) or that another uncle and aunt might adopt her younger sister to give her a better chance (this does). Through it all, mother works on uncomplaining and efficient, while enjoying the pleasures of watching her children grow up.
