Bah, humbug.
Louise’s grandson was born with a genetic illness. Although the boy is healthy & happy today, it’s something he & his parents will have to manage his whole life.
Of course, this is sad for the entire family. Everyone has put on a brave face and offered words of encouragement to the little boy’s parents. All except Louise. Since the birth of the child, not a day goes by that she doesn’t blame the tiny lad for her misery.
Her most frequent quotes:
I will never smile again.
What’s the point of family if they are born defective?
If only my daughter had a baby with her previous husband, the child would’ve been healthy. (Two notable things: Both parents carried a gene that led to the boy’s illness. And, the previous husband betrayed and severely broke her daughter’s heart.)
It’s annoying to have to wear a medical mask around the newborn because I have a cold. What a burden that will be for me, if I have to do that during every visit.
For me, there will be NO Christmas… this year or any other. Even as we gathered (Myself, her son & her granddaughter) to put up her Christmas tree and decorate her house, she complained that it was ugly and a waste of time.
As appalling as they all are, the last one is most relevant to this holiday season. For various reasons, none of Louise’s out of town family were unable/willing to travel to see her for Christmas. After all — Why would anyone bother to make the trip when, even on a short phone call, Louise spits venom? And, no one invited her to their place. Again, the reasons are self explanatory.
In the months, weeks and even days before Christmas, Louise was unbelieveably mean to us. l I had a difficult time even blogging or tweeting about it because it was so severe. I just couldn’t seem to find any humor in it, so I’ve stayed mostly quiet about it all.
Anyway, even though we are just next door, we made the executive decision not to spend Christmas with her. It wasn’t to be hurtful or mean to her, it was merely to ensure we could enjoy the day. If past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior, we knew what we would get.
We even calmly reminded her the day before that we would not see her.
So, what happened? She made dinner and sat dressed, waiting.
No one came.
Not a single friend stopped by.
Not one neighbor knocked on the door to offer her Christmas treats.
What was Louise’s reaction?
As always, she played the victim and lamented how mean others are.
Certainly, she played no part in having a holiday alone.
Certainly, it didn’t give her cause to think about how her own behavior had created that situation.
Why would it? She’s Louise. She is allowed to be rude, mean and downright nasty. But, if you don’t accept it and continue to let her kick you, you are the asshole.
Guess what, guys?
I am perfectly happy being the asshole. No problem at all.
