Oh brother
I think I have blogged about my grandmother occasionally. She lives about 2.5 hours away down state in a small city called Mt.Vernon, NY. This is a city in Westchester County on the border of the Bronx that is four square miles, yet extremely densely populated. For the most part, much of the Italian population in this city is most likely a distant relative of mine.
My grandmother is a hypochondriac who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder. That is somewhat excusable, except she is also a control freak. For example, she has a fit if I leave home, and believe it or not, every chance I get, I like to take the kids and run the streets (you know, go to the movies, cook-outs, Church and other such activities) in nice weather. She does not approve of my "gallivanting" so every time I leave the house she has to make me pay. This is her new hobby. She leaves tons of messages on my answering machine. If I do not return the call or show up, she calls my parents and starts harassing them. Her latest line is "I got so nervous and hysterical, I could not sleep because I thought the baby was dead from asthma. "
The first time I was like "Ok, it is a misunderstanding", but it has gotten worse each time I left the house. A few weeks ago I went out for coffee with a girlfriend and my husband told her as much. The next morning I got "I was so worried I could not sleep, why would you go out? Who was this girl you went out with?" To top it off, I have other family (she resides with her brother and sister) calling me and asking why I am worrying my poor grandmother. Ugh.
Today I called to ask if her power was put back on (that is the other thing, if I do not call in the face of any kind of emergency, whether I know about it or not, I get lectured for not calling). Her power is not back on. She complained about how her fridge is disgusting and flooded from all the ice they put in it. Duh, I mentioned how our new home has an ice box with tubes to drain water and how that would have worked out in an emergency like this. I was fielding calls from her brother asking me if my husband was forcing me into this life. If they took the time to get to know me, rather than control me, they would know what I want. He also said how much they worry about me (stop worrying), how if we move they can never visit us because we will be too far but you do not visit us now, I invited you to Posco's First Holy Communion and you did not come).
I love my family I do, but families can be such a source of agita.
