To say that my wife’s mother is obstinate is equivalent to saying that soccer requires some running.
In reality, unless you’re the goalie, all you do in soccer is run.
And my mother-in-law is definitely not a goalie. She is the kind of person who has always lived life on her own terms and only her own terms. I spent my early years in a city. I and my brother shared a room in the three-bedroom apartment where we lived. Although we were not wealthy, we had everything we needed. And we had way too much heating in that apartment. There was radiant heating in that apartment, and it could be turned on or off. There was nothing in between. Therefore, we spent the entire winter learning how to strategically crack windows. While I was raised in a city, my wife was raised in a very rural area. She lacked all access to contemporary residential HVAC. During the winter, a wood stove provided all the heating for their modest house. But just like us, they had no air conditioning, using fans instead to keep cool in the summer. I’ve been married to my wife for more than 25 years; we first connected while we were students. We recently had to bribe her mother into allowing us to install some contemporary HVAC technology in her house. She has physically slowed down significantly but is still fiercely independent. Even though the wood stove still provides a lot of heat, it is no longer practical. Fortunately, we were able to convince her that the situation needed to be changed, and she agreed to allow the HVAC specialists to install two ductless heat pumps. She now has high-quality heating and air at her disposal.