So 2009 can already go to hell. (very long, sorry)
- My grandmother (Dad's mom) hasn't been doing so well. She started out having pneumonia last year that caused heart issues. She also has diabetes and had gotten an infection in one of her legs. So, last year was pretty much one long hospital visit for her. They told her in December that if she didn't have her legs removed (at the knee) that she wouldn't survive three months.
Yesterday, she had her right one removed. She's been stubborn on having it removed. It's been a catch 22 with her. She can't get better unless the infection is gone (in her legs and the only way to do that is to have them removed) but she needs to get stronger in order to have them removed and can't do that unless the infection is gone. The fact that they were able to take one is actually a good sign.
I called her today to see how she was doing after her surgery. She's on a fuckton of pain killers and I was amazed on how well and how long she was able to hold a conversation. You could tell, though, she wasn't completely lucid. So, I mostly kept the conversation about Greg and how he's doing and how his 1st birthday was... you know, kept the conversation jovial.
Then I talked to my grandfather. We (my two siblings and I) have always been estranged from that side of the family. It's a very long and complicated story. The short jist of it is that my dad has always been the "black sheep" and has been treated as such including his family. So we have been fine with not really having a relationship with them.
I asked my grandfather how grandma was doing and he started to cry on the phone. In the 30 years that I'll be living, I have never heard any emotion from him other than the occassional laugh every once in a while. Other than that? Nothing. So when I heard this, it was a deer in the headlights moment. I quickly changed the subject and pretty much rehashed everything I had said to Grandma earlier. The moment I told him about Greg's 1st birthday, his spirits immediately picked up.
Before calling them, however, I had gotten a "nasty gram" from my Aunt Doreen. For those of you who are probably scratching your head, my Dad is the only male born in that family. He has 3 other sisters. Two older and one younger. Doreen is the second oldest and, what we thought, on the best terms with us. I haven't heard a peep from her since my wedding and before that, ...I was... *thinks* 9? If I have to sit there and think, that pretty much tells you the relationship, or lack there of, I have with this side of the family.
Never received a birthday card, Christmas Card, or anything from her. So...she writes a nasty gram talking to not only just me, but my two brothers, and two cousins in TX, about the importance of family??!
*hears the record skip*
I'm sorry...what?
The letter first starts out stating that we should have called them to wish them a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and what not, which is true. She said we're adults and should have taken the inititave to do it. Ok... true on that, our bad. But um... not her place to say.
So, after I had called my grandmother, I wrote her a reply.
Dear Aunt Doreen,
Thank you so much for your belated well wishes for the holidays. Things
have been a bit hectic and unusual since my parents have moved down to
Charlotte, which I'm sure you can sympathize and imagine. Having your
parents so far away, for the first major holiday, can be emotionally
stressful.
The three of us siblings have sat down and discussed your recent email
and came up with this conclusion: nothing you had stated to us was
false. We should have been a bit more thoughtful in wishing our
grandparents a wonderful holiday season. And as you said, we are
adults. However, any correspondence (be it verbal or written) is
between them and us. Letters, cards, phone calls, or even lack there
of, are issues to be addressed by them to us. No middle man is
required.
I have spoken to my brothers and relayed my thoughts on them calling
Grandma and Pop-pop. They are grown men now and what they do with
their time is up to them. I am not their mother and neither are you.
And since you have brought up the importance of family, I wanted to
personally thank you for sending your own well wishes for my son's
first birthday. I know that you must have only recently obtained my
email, or I'm certain that my own birthday(s) and holiday(s) well
wishes would have been sent by you. I also speak for my brothers on
this matter.
Hope the new year has been wonderful. Keep in mind that I rarely check my
email these days, as Greg keeps me busy and away from the computer. So
any response to this email would more than likely be read delayed or
lost in the sea of spam and a response to that would even be further.
Regards,
Deanne, JD, and Danny.
We were both wrong. I should have called and she needs to mind her own fucking business. Now, if it were Jen or even my husband's Aunt Michelle, I probably wouldn't be so WTFish. Doreen hasn't even seen Greg, yet. No cards, no phone calls to see how I'm doing with the second pregnancy, or shit...even the first one. Nothing. And seriously? She's going to sit there and tell ME the importance of family???
Fuck.
That.
Shit.
Anyone who is close to me knows that I'm all about fucking family...but only the family that um... puts in their time, perhaps? Hell, even my estranged grandparents, I visit at least twice a year. Oh, that's a whole lotta fuck that.
So there's drama with that.
- AJ, my cousin, has been in the hospital with platlet issues. He's 8 years old. He might be a hemophiliac. He woke up one morning with red spots on his skin, in his mouth, and on his eyes. A normal person's platlet level should be around 150k. His were 3k. Soooo yeah. He's doing somewhat ok, now. They sent him home for steroid treatments, so he's healthy enough to be discharged but he had to have his bone marrow biopsied.
Poor kid. No child should have to go through anything like this. And my blood is Type O Negative. (Insert your goth jokes here) But because I'm preggers I can't help him. It. Sucks. If he needs a bone marrow transplant and his parents aren't a match, I hope I can help after Jayden is born.
- My mom's dog, Meister, had to undergo an operation to get the kidney stones removed. He's doing good now, but the procedure was on Monday. When we were there in Charlotte, he was having issues peeing. Vet thought it as a bladder infection until they did an ultrasound and seen the stones.
Yay for pet insurance! My parents bought that and it's saved them a shit ton of money.
- Annnnd Danny was laid off. The company he was working for isn't making enough money and you know how it is... last in first out.
So... 2009? Yeah, you can go fuck yourself. I'm about done with this shit.
Yesterday, she had her right one removed. She's been stubborn on having it removed. It's been a catch 22 with her. She can't get better unless the infection is gone (in her legs and the only way to do that is to have them removed) but she needs to get stronger in order to have them removed and can't do that unless the infection is gone. The fact that they were able to take one is actually a good sign.
I called her today to see how she was doing after her surgery. She's on a fuckton of pain killers and I was amazed on how well and how long she was able to hold a conversation. You could tell, though, she wasn't completely lucid. So, I mostly kept the conversation about Greg and how he's doing and how his 1st birthday was... you know, kept the conversation jovial.
Then I talked to my grandfather. We (my two siblings and I) have always been estranged from that side of the family. It's a very long and complicated story. The short jist of it is that my dad has always been the "black sheep" and has been treated as such including his family. So we have been fine with not really having a relationship with them.
I asked my grandfather how grandma was doing and he started to cry on the phone. In the 30 years that I'll be living, I have never heard any emotion from him other than the occassional laugh every once in a while. Other than that? Nothing. So when I heard this, it was a deer in the headlights moment. I quickly changed the subject and pretty much rehashed everything I had said to Grandma earlier. The moment I told him about Greg's 1st birthday, his spirits immediately picked up.
Before calling them, however, I had gotten a "nasty gram" from my Aunt Doreen. For those of you who are probably scratching your head, my Dad is the only male born in that family. He has 3 other sisters. Two older and one younger. Doreen is the second oldest and, what we thought, on the best terms with us. I haven't heard a peep from her since my wedding and before that, ...I was... *thinks* 9? If I have to sit there and think, that pretty much tells you the relationship, or lack there of, I have with this side of the family.
Never received a birthday card, Christmas Card, or anything from her. So...she writes a nasty gram talking to not only just me, but my two brothers, and two cousins in TX, about the importance of family??!
*hears the record skip*
I'm sorry...what?
The letter first starts out stating that we should have called them to wish them a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and what not, which is true. She said we're adults and should have taken the inititave to do it. Ok... true on that, our bad. But um... not her place to say.
So, after I had called my grandmother, I wrote her a reply.
Dear Aunt Doreen,
Thank you so much for your belated well wishes for the holidays. Things
have been a bit hectic and unusual since my parents have moved down to
Charlotte, which I'm sure you can sympathize and imagine. Having your
parents so far away, for the first major holiday, can be emotionally
stressful.
The three of us siblings have sat down and discussed your recent email
and came up with this conclusion: nothing you had stated to us was
false. We should have been a bit more thoughtful in wishing our
grandparents a wonderful holiday season. And as you said, we are
adults. However, any correspondence (be it verbal or written) is
between them and us. Letters, cards, phone calls, or even lack there
of, are issues to be addressed by them to us. No middle man is
required.
I have spoken to my brothers and relayed my thoughts on them calling
Grandma and Pop-pop. They are grown men now and what they do with
their time is up to them. I am not their mother and neither are you.
And since you have brought up the importance of family, I wanted to
personally thank you for sending your own well wishes for my son's
first birthday. I know that you must have only recently obtained my
email, or I'm certain that my own birthday(s) and holiday(s) well
wishes would have been sent by you. I also speak for my brothers on
this matter.
Hope the new year has been wonderful. Keep in mind that I rarely check my
email these days, as Greg keeps me busy and away from the computer. So
any response to this email would more than likely be read delayed or
lost in the sea of spam and a response to that would even be further.
Regards,
Deanne, JD, and Danny.
We were both wrong. I should have called and she needs to mind her own fucking business. Now, if it were Jen or even my husband's Aunt Michelle, I probably wouldn't be so WTFish. Doreen hasn't even seen Greg, yet. No cards, no phone calls to see how I'm doing with the second pregnancy, or shit...even the first one. Nothing. And seriously? She's going to sit there and tell ME the importance of family???
Fuck.
That.
Shit.
Anyone who is close to me knows that I'm all about fucking family...but only the family that um... puts in their time, perhaps? Hell, even my estranged grandparents, I visit at least twice a year. Oh, that's a whole lotta fuck that.
So there's drama with that.
- AJ, my cousin, has been in the hospital with platlet issues. He's 8 years old. He might be a hemophiliac. He woke up one morning with red spots on his skin, in his mouth, and on his eyes. A normal person's platlet level should be around 150k. His were 3k. Soooo yeah. He's doing somewhat ok, now. They sent him home for steroid treatments, so he's healthy enough to be discharged but he had to have his bone marrow biopsied.
Poor kid. No child should have to go through anything like this. And my blood is Type O Negative. (Insert your goth jokes here) But because I'm preggers I can't help him. It. Sucks. If he needs a bone marrow transplant and his parents aren't a match, I hope I can help after Jayden is born.
- My mom's dog, Meister, had to undergo an operation to get the kidney stones removed. He's doing good now, but the procedure was on Monday. When we were there in Charlotte, he was having issues peeing. Vet thought it as a bladder infection until they did an ultrasound and seen the stones.
Yay for pet insurance! My parents bought that and it's saved them a shit ton of money.
- Annnnd Danny was laid off. The company he was working for isn't making enough money and you know how it is... last in first out.
So... 2009? Yeah, you can go fuck yourself. I'm about done with this shit.