Family Matters

My Christmas present from my folks arrived today.

I think it is a telling sign that after the mailman delivered it to my door, I let it sit on the table for about a half hour while I read a magazine.

I don't know when it happened, but my family has fallen out of favour with me.

Which is a huge departure. When I was young, my thought was family was everything. I don't mean young like a child, I mean in my teens and twenties. When young men typically reject their families, I vowed allegiance forever.

That is kind of an Italian thing. So, it isn't a huge surprise.

I was staunch in my view to other family members. If an aunt or uncle bad mouthed family, I would launch into an attack with all the passion that comes with the self surety of youth.

Then, I moved out here, and back home, family started dying. First, my uncle died, then my aunt. Afterwards, my family was shattered. My mother started to drink heavily, and has since rejected contact with her remaining two brothers. My father's family was never close, but even there, two brothers have been disavowed from conciousness.

My insular family hadn't changed ( except mom's drunkeness), but they have still lost out in my mind.

It happened around the time of my split from X. Suddenly, I couldn't stand my family and their overbearing love, or their attempts at sympathy. My sister has fared best, but even there, we talk maybe once every three months.

So, when the package arrived, I let it sit.

When I did open it, there were three small boxes inside.

One was filled with six tiny martini glasses. They are cute. Nice to have. Maybe a bit too colorful for anything I would buy, but as a gift, I like them a lot. Plus, I didn't have martini glasses, so they are actually useful.

Let's just ignore the implications of one drunk sending another martini glasses. I don't call myself a drunk anymore, so that implication has no ground to land on. Right?

The second box contained food packets. Seasonings to make cheese balls (I'm not kidding, three cheese ball seasoning packets), as well as chili mix, dip mix (garlic, horseradish, and spinach), and what seems to be the incomplete contents for apple crumb cake mix.

The third box was the oddest. It had an assortment of things. Here they are:

1. An international foods cookbook.
2. A wind up emergency flashlight like tool.
3. A pad and pencil for your car, presumably for creative bursts while driving.
4. A scrolling address label for luggage.
5. An emergency mini hammer, also for the auto, that is intended to be used to break glass in case of an urgent need to escape the car. It also has a knife like attachment for slicing your way out of your seatbelt. How festive!

So, according to my family, after a trip to some exotic land, I will be inspired to cook the native cuisine, and, desperately in the car at night, feel the need to consult the book and take notes. However, the confusion of driving, writing, winding the flash to read by, and reading will distract me enough to cause a terrible accident that will maybe ignite my car, forcing me to urgently cut my way out and break out for dear life!

Now, why is it that they are low on my priorities?

Merry Christmas all!