It's A Family Affair

Quote
Blood's thicker than mud
-Sly And The Family Stone


Thanksgiving is Thursday and my husband and I were planning on spending it at home this year but our plans have changed. My husband's stepmother called us out of the blue on Saturday to invite us to Thanksgiving dinner. We have not seen her in over two years and have not talked to her in about one. The reason we have not seen her in two years is because the last time we visited she became very angry with me for not saying hello to her the minute we got to the house. I apologized but she was in such a rage she was shaking and repeatedly told me what a disgusting horrible person I was. My father-in-law finally stepped in and told her to stop. My husband had been on the receiving end of her rage before but this was the last straw for him and we left 10 minutes later. After that she got in to the habit of calling us up on the phone when my father-in-law wasn't at home to harangue us about our (in her mind) hatred of her. To say we were surprised to be invited to dinner would be putting it mildly.

We now know one of the reasons for her past behavior is that she was in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's. She is doing better in some ways now but there are times where she thinks what she believes to be true is the truth. So after telling her I would have to check to see if we had any other plans and saying I would call her back I hung up. Then my husband called and talked with his father and found out it was true, we were being invited for Thanksgiving. I was hesitant about going but my father-in-law is now in his early 80's and my husband realizes that the amount of time he has left to spend with his father is burning away fast. Of course he wants to see his father as much as possible so, I knew we had to go.

I then found out my sister's plan to fly to Virginia with her fiance to meet her future in-laws this Thanksgiving fell though due to work related stuff and that she would be staying in Denver; her fiance would still be going to see his family. My husband invited her to come with us and I was very happy when she said yes. So, the new plan is to drive to Denver Wednesday and spend the night at my sister's house and then on Thursday we drive to my father-in-laws house for Thanksgiving dinner.

The things we do for the people we love and the things the people who love us do for us.