scrabbler1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2009
- Messages
- 6,705
Threads like this are half of the education, and three quarters of the fun, of visiting this site!
Stories about people are so much more entertaining than whether to pay off the mortgage, when to take SS, or what is the ideal AA.
In my situation, all my in-laws are bland, responsible, and financially secure. No rap sheets, no drugs, no bankruptcies, no vicious divorces. They are what used to be "normal", although we live in a strange era when "normal" includes a surprisingly wide spectrum.
But never fear, my wife's in-laws, i.e. my family, can be counted on to bring the drama. You name it and it's been done among my relatives... probably multiple times. And when that happens, it's a comfort to read threads like this one. It reassures me that I'm not alone in coming from a family awash in head cases.
Pretty bland, here. I am single and childfree, and my brother is married with one kid, nearly 15. He is wealthier than I am with no problems or dramas. The 3 of them live 200 miles away, so I rarely see them. My dad, my ladyfriend, and I used to visit them every Thanksgiving, but the last few years they haven't hosted, sometimes going elsewhere (to the SIL's family further away).
Other relatives live scattered all around the country, mostly on the west coast and southwest regions. I rarely see them or have contact with them any more. It's more my doing because I have no interest in Facebook where they are all at. Most are married with kids and are leading stable, middle-class (or better) lives. Being the nearly only one single and childfree (and retired at 45) would make me feel like an oddball anyway.
My ladyfriend's family has plenty of drama, though. But I am insulated from that. I have met some of her relatives only a few times in the 14 years I have known her, as they all live out of state, and WELL out of state at that! Lots of struggling and dysfunction there. When I went to her home state to visit them, I felt like I was on another planet.