the talk.
So I had to have the gay talk with my mom again today, because she seems to have convinced herself that it didn't happen the first time around.
First, a little bit of back story. A couple of weeks ago, I added my two cousins on my mom's side as friends on Facebook. Both are in their twenties, and both have already graduated from college. A few days later, my aunt (their mother, and my mom's sister) added me, which seemed kind of weird since she's not exactly a computer person. I kinda blew it off as her being a nosy parent and wanting to stalk her family members' Facebook profiles. A few days after that, my cousin Chris added Fritz as a friend. This pretty much assured me that he had noticed our being listed as in a relationship. I assumed he was just being friendly by adding Fritz; showing that he accepted it.
Okay, enough back story. My mom came home today at around five and told me that I had a dentist appointment at 6:15pm (which she had scheduled earlier in the day). She apologized for not having warned me about the appointment earlier; apparently my dad still hasn't paid the phone bill, so my phone isn't working and she had no way of contacting me. This sent me into a mini-rage directed toward my father, since I had been expecting several calls all day and he hadn't informed me that the phones were shut off. (I was invited to a water park in Columbus tomorrow with Steven and his family, but since he couldn't contact me with details, I'm probably not going to be able to go.)
After I finished complaining about my dad, my mom awkwardly segued into something like, "I've been getting questions about your relationship status on Facebook..." When she said that, I immediately realized that my aunt had made a Facebook account and my cousin had added Fritz as a friend for the sole reason of trying to figure out if I really am in a relationship with a guy. My brother and his girlfriend spent the weekend before last at my cousin's apartment in Cleveland, and he asked them about it. My brother's girlfriend said that she thought it was a joke, but I guess my brother wasn't satisfied with that. He didn't feel comfortable asking my mom about it, so he got his girlfriend to do it.
But yeah, I've been meaning to touch on the subject again with my mom, since I sensed that she had pushed it out of her mind. I asked her if she knew that Fritz and I are dating. She said she didn't. I informed her that she knew at one point; that she had probably just tried to forget. She agreed. She asked me my opinion on the origins of homosexuality; whether I think it's genetic or learned. I told her that I'm no pro on the subject, but that I believe it's a combination of the two. She asked if I had any problems with it religiously. I told her I don't believe in God. She cried, but didn't try to convince me to believe otherwise. She asked me if I had any suggestions for helping her to cope. I told her she should consider counseling, because it helps to talk about things. I also told her that she should stop trying to ignore it. We hugged.
I hope that this is the beginning of a new stage in all of this. She has been in the denial stage for far too long.
First, a little bit of back story. A couple of weeks ago, I added my two cousins on my mom's side as friends on Facebook. Both are in their twenties, and both have already graduated from college. A few days later, my aunt (their mother, and my mom's sister) added me, which seemed kind of weird since she's not exactly a computer person. I kinda blew it off as her being a nosy parent and wanting to stalk her family members' Facebook profiles. A few days after that, my cousin Chris added Fritz as a friend. This pretty much assured me that he had noticed our being listed as in a relationship. I assumed he was just being friendly by adding Fritz; showing that he accepted it.
Okay, enough back story. My mom came home today at around five and told me that I had a dentist appointment at 6:15pm (which she had scheduled earlier in the day). She apologized for not having warned me about the appointment earlier; apparently my dad still hasn't paid the phone bill, so my phone isn't working and she had no way of contacting me. This sent me into a mini-rage directed toward my father, since I had been expecting several calls all day and he hadn't informed me that the phones were shut off. (I was invited to a water park in Columbus tomorrow with Steven and his family, but since he couldn't contact me with details, I'm probably not going to be able to go.)
After I finished complaining about my dad, my mom awkwardly segued into something like, "I've been getting questions about your relationship status on Facebook..." When she said that, I immediately realized that my aunt had made a Facebook account and my cousin had added Fritz as a friend for the sole reason of trying to figure out if I really am in a relationship with a guy. My brother and his girlfriend spent the weekend before last at my cousin's apartment in Cleveland, and he asked them about it. My brother's girlfriend said that she thought it was a joke, but I guess my brother wasn't satisfied with that. He didn't feel comfortable asking my mom about it, so he got his girlfriend to do it.
But yeah, I've been meaning to touch on the subject again with my mom, since I sensed that she had pushed it out of her mind. I asked her if she knew that Fritz and I are dating. She said she didn't. I informed her that she knew at one point; that she had probably just tried to forget. She agreed. She asked me my opinion on the origins of homosexuality; whether I think it's genetic or learned. I told her that I'm no pro on the subject, but that I believe it's a combination of the two. She asked if I had any problems with it religiously. I told her I don't believe in God. She cried, but didn't try to convince me to believe otherwise. She asked me if I had any suggestions for helping her to cope. I told her she should consider counseling, because it helps to talk about things. I also told her that she should stop trying to ignore it. We hugged.
I hope that this is the beginning of a new stage in all of this. She has been in the denial stage for far too long.