It is no surprise to those of you familiar with one side of my family (hint: Not my dad's) that they are crazy. (Luckily, most of you are not familiar with them. . .until now.) True mental illness runs rampant through exactly 50% of our genes. (My mom is extremely sane, I should add, or she'll beat me!!) My grandmother died last January. We used to get together at her house for Christmas Eve. Back then, no one got along, but they tried. Upon Grandma's illness and death the peace was broken. The family has split. (I like to call the division the Crazies and the Un-Crazies, but that's just me.)
Family always mattered a great deal to Grandma. It has been really hard on my mom to not be close to her family. There is this sense of failure, knowing that Grandma was able to keep the peace for so long. I know of only one way to keep the peace now. Grandma would disagree, but family is who you choose. My life is too short to spend worrying about a bunch of crazy, trouble-hunting people that you (unfortunately) share DNA with. I would do anything for my family. They are everything to me, but only because I choose who "they" are.
OK, now you have the background. Let me tell you what happened last night. (And let me preface this by saying that Kev and I joke about EVERYTHING! Always have! It's what has kept us reasonably sane this long! Please do not be offended by the following exchange!)
Ever since finding out that my eccentric family members are not just eccentric but full-blown mentally-ill, as in schizophrenic, members of society, it has been my greatest fear that I would become one of them. Seriously.
Anyway, last night, I was asking Kevin if he would still love me if I went over the edge. He said, "Yes, and so will my next wife." I teared up. I couldn't take it. He asked me what was wrong. I said it might come true. He reminded me that we are always joking like that. I told him that in this case, it was a little too real. He laughed and said he would always be there. I reminded him that it didn't really matter, because I would probably have conversations with him either way. . .
See, your family holidays could be so much worse! Please keep that in mind this Christmas and know that we are wishing all of you a very merry Christmas!!! I will be back on Monday most likely. (Do you sense the commitment issues?)
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Hello world!
3 years ago
9 comments:
just know that your friends will always be here for you.
I don't know very many families that are not made up of The Crazies and The Un-Crazies!
Merry Christmas to you!!
My family is dependent on chemical substances and less-dependent on said substances... Hugs!
Hey, my family is a bunch of crazies too. On my mom's side anyways. I often worry the same thing. Hmm, what age was so-and-so when they lost it? And did they know or are they blissfully unaware? :)
Yeah, I've been there too. My mom's bipolar, so you could say my life has had its ups and downs.
(Ha! Get it? Ups and Downs?! I crack myself up.)
Seriously, I wonder about that with me too. I actually do deal with depression (in chemical and non-chemical ways), so I keep hoping that's as far as it goes.
Like Queen B said, there's one (or more) in every family. Just know that we feel your pain.
In our family, we divide into medicated, unmedicated, and don't need to be medicated. I don't hang out with the ones who need to be medicated but aren't, although we'll visit on special occasions. To me, it's not worth it to get involved in the everyday drama. My neuclear family has enough of its own.
Yes Rachel,
I sense the commitment issues! And BTW I identify with everything else!
i often wonder if the crazies actually fancy themselves the crazies or if they think they are sane and that the rest of us are the nuts??
i do have full blown chemical imbalance and take meds and have bugged C about similar...
his response is of course he would but that he still thinks i am a 5'2" redhead....
this is our joke...chances of me turning into a petite redhead are about as likely as me turning into a major recording star...
but thats fine...as long as he thinks i am that then he doesnt care if i think he is trace adkins...LMAO
steff
BTW Rachel...your card got here yesterday...THANK YOU soooo much!!
Steff
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