Martha was an imperious, proud, dominating mother; her husband had little say in what happened in the family – he was a senior congressman in Washington DC, with his mind on other matters. 

Martha had decided that her daughter would be a ballet dancer; unfortunately Susan was not interested in becoming a ballet dancer – in fact she told her mother that she hated ballet, but her mother insisted on her doing it. 

I was hired by her mother to help Susan with her academic studies as she had become very behind in them. I immediately realised that Susan was a bright girl, whose character had been greatly affected by her over-dominant mother. Slowly Susan came to trust me and her mother’s influence was diminished. I had a sort of feeling that Susan actually liked doing ballet – the only reason why she told her mother that she hated it was that it had been forced upon her. Susan refused to let her mother know that she liked ballet in any way. I became Susan’s mentor and she relied on my support. I also made it my business to get on very well with her mother and her father - in any case, her father and I had got on very well from the day I arrived. 

My showdown with her mother came when Susan said she wanted to see the film “Black Swan” about a ballet dancer. Her mother forbad her to see it – she said that it was all about psychology; I said that Susan should be allowed to see it and that it was a resigning matter for me; if Susan was not allowed to see it, I was resigning. I think that her husband interceded with his wife on my behalf as he was very anxious for me not to leave and also anxious to see his imperious wife taken down a peg or two. Finally I was allowed to take Susan to the film. 

Somehow that seemed to change the entire family chemistry; Susan had seen someone stand up to her mother and prevail; her mother lost her dominance over Susan. The whole atmosphere in the family changed and Susan excelled at ballet and at her academic studies. She told her mother how much she loved doing ballet; her mother was thrilled and the whole family was happier than ever. 

I am thrilled to say that Susan has become a prima ballerina and we have remained friends to this day, as has the whole family, including Martha! HN