From out of the blue
Man, it’s been a crazy 6 weeks between trying to get the computer squared with Dell, the office rebuilt at home, waiting for the new rig to arrive plus finishing my business writing class.
You’d think I’d catch a bit of a break but the answering machine had a message that caused me to about flip.
It was my brother-in-law, the one I haven’t talked to since April 1, 2003 when he all but gutted me over the phone over a family dispute over money. The details of said dispute I won’t rehash.
Since that call, I’ve pretty much taken a ‘never want to see him again’ stance. Fear is part of it. The fear of getting drilled again since he knows what buttons to push on me (he lives with my Mom after all) mixed with the fear of not standing up for myself.
Yet here is the message. I couldn’t even play all of it. I paused it and waited for Jean to come home. My brother-in-law was asking if we could maybe get together, have dinner to try and mend fences.
First thing that hit my mind was “what the rub”? I know he’s a Decon now, maybe God’s hand is in this? Or is it what my gut is telling me, that there is an angle in play. A reach out because something is coming and my family wants to bring me back into their corner. I feel I’ve got to check my credit report just to be on the safe side.
The worse part of this is that I just wanted to be done with it all. I walked away for a reason. My brother-in-law wanted to be the man, well, be the frigging man. I don’t care. Just leave me alone. My roll as first born and family enforcer I willingly quit because I found it was the thing killing me.
So what to do? Jean’s take is to set the ground rules. - Sister and brother-in-law only - no issues between my Mom and myself on the table
If they want to talk under those connditions, then we might have something…
Why does anything envolving my family feels like a rejected Mafia subploit?
