As I’m down here in Florida to clean out a storage locker that my late husband and I have been paying for for the past ten years, I decidecd to pay a visit to my step-father, see how he’s doing. I haven’t seen him or talked to him since I left for the UK. I figured staying out of his life is probably the safest thing for everyone, since my life tends to leave chaos in the wake.
I stopped by in the morning and we chatted a bit. It was good to see him doing so well at 82. He’s had his round with cancer that gave everyone a scare but he managed to get through it with my brother’s family to watch over him.
Little did I know that he’d call my brother down here. And my sister. So I get back to the hotel room after seeing him and there’s a messenger from my sister. She tells me that he called my brother and my brother was waiting for me to come by.
Background: There was a rift between my brother and I before I left for the UK and we haven’t spoken since.
So I asked her what I should do. Should I go there at that moment and talk to him, or should he get to sleep, since he’d been woken up and he drove a long haul truck at night? She said I should go now. I did.
He met me at the door, and welcomed me. We sat and talked about all kinds of things, especially some of the problems we both faced. My sister had kept him informed of my situation over the years. The time came for apologies and I simply said to him that we should start fresh and new, no faults, no errors. Of course, I kept badgering him to get to bed since he had to work that evening and I didn’t want him on the road, tired and it being my fault. But he insisted on staying up and talking.
And so now we’re getting to know each other again, as real adults. He mentioned that the one thing our family did well was hold grudges, which is true. We can prune a grudge into a banzai tree. So now the grudge is over, and I think to myself, “What do I do now?” We made plans for dinner later in the week. The dinner was great, talking and laughing with him and his wife. Afterward I stopped by their house and saw the rest fo the family. Chaos and madness it was, but that’s just family, isn’t it?
He’s changed, and I’ve changed. Both it seems for the better. Maybe now that we’re older and wiser and lost that youthful anger that comes with being a member of this family, we can go forward and enjoy each other’s lives. It was good to be back in the fold, I have to admit. Now I get to see the man he’s become, and he can understand the man I’ve become as well. We live with so many assumptions about each other, never knowing the facts and never delving deeper into the other. I have a brother again.
Well, my beloved husband, you wanted me to reconcile, and I did. I hope that wherever you are, watching over me, you’re smiling that I managed to gather my strength and help us move forward. Another thing off the list.
Categories: General
wildcatleeds
I keep ya guessing
WildcatLeeds 