Friends Are God's Apology For Relations

So Ms. Thang is turning 11 next Friday, and on Saturday (the 26th) various members of both of our families will get together to celebrate her birthday. A few years ago we declared that we were hosting family birthday parties until the age of 12, and while it caused some uproar with my MIL, I secretly am thrilled to death that I only have to suffer through 2 more of these craptacular occasions.





In an interesting turn of events, both of my parents will be in attendance at this party. My mom arrives from Maryland the day after tomorrow, and after spending a week with my brother S, will arrive here with him and his wife for the party, and then stay on with us another week. Her visit alone already has me cranky, as our relationship has changed over the last few years, and not for the better... and now I have to entertain the idea of my parents being together in my house. For a whole afternoon. Dad hasn't been up here around the time of the parties for the last few years, so it's been a while since they've even seen each other.

My stepmother's health is not so hot, and her doctors will not allow her to fly up here, so she will stay down in Florida and dad will come to the party alone. I don't have a great relationship with my stepmother (I was married with 2 kids when they got married), but she provides a nice buffer between my mom and dad. I suppose when one is married to a person for 24 years, and has 5 children with that person, and then a bit of a bitter divorce, it's expected that perhaps future meetings might not go so well. However, it's been 10 years, and seriously... it's a little pathetic. What I hate the most, is being in the middle of it. I think that perhaps my mother forgets that even if I don't have any sort of decent relationship with my father, for a multitude of reasons, he's still my father. When she starts talking crap about him.. I want to throw a fit like a 3 year old and tell her to grow up and get over it. Non me ne importa un cavolo!