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Anyone else just chilling in peace on Christmas Eve?
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<blockquote data-quote="Scent of Cedar *" data-source="post: 643139" data-attributes="member: 17461"><p>We have neighbors like that. (Not here. In the summer, we have neighbors like that.) They could not be more fascinated with the intricacies of our family's mental illnesses, addictions, horrifically public fightings and throwings out and leave takings and rough looking grown up men parking rust bucket school busses turned RV on the back lot to actually live in with their two Rottweilers.</p><p></p><p>Ew.</p><p></p><p>They are quite religious too, and oh, poor me darn it, every one of them could not be more successful, or more sadly regretful at the messiness our lives never quite seem to (loudly) stop turning into.</p><p></p><p>But...one of the sons turned out to have been an addict.</p><p></p><p>There were other things happening too, under the radar. Deliciously juicy and for me (BAD CEDAR!), highly validating things.</p><p></p><p>:O)</p><p></p><p>It is just that they happen quietly. Everyone continues to smile politely, and to dress well. This is not always so, in our family. The last time we were all dressed well was like, 1982. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Oh, wow. I would have been totally uncomfortable, too.</p><p></p><p>We have some friends like that. One son is head of Pediatrics somewhere and one is a professor. It sucks being friends with them. I actually have two sets of friends like that, now that I think about it. Same deal. Son is a full professor at a really famous university. I asked her once how she, a divorced, working mom, who has been known to dabble in the lighter recreational drugs herself, had managed to raise her son alone to become the man he must be. She said he has always been really bright. (Too bright to get hooked on drugs being the implication.)</p><p></p><p>Well, kick me in the pants.</p><p></p><p>Why do I have friends like that, anyway.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I am reading Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird. She is writing about jealousy ~ the kind that makes us feel even worse than we might have, without our rotten neighbors or peers celebrating their good fortune at every turning while we share what we have learned about the importance of dry socks to the homeless.</p><p></p><p>"...she said this other writer was in my life to help me heal my past. She said this writer had helped bring up a lifetime's worth of feeling that other families were happier than ours, that other families had some owner's manual to go by. <em>She said it was once again that business of comparing my insides to other people's outsides."</em></p><p></p><p>Italics are mine.</p><p></p><p>It is true though, that some families seem to function beautifully.</p><p></p><p>Dirty rats.</p><p></p><p>Cedar</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Scent of Cedar *, post: 643139, member: 17461"] We have neighbors like that. (Not here. In the summer, we have neighbors like that.) They could not be more fascinated with the intricacies of our family's mental illnesses, addictions, horrifically public fightings and throwings out and leave takings and rough looking grown up men parking rust bucket school busses turned RV on the back lot to actually live in with their two Rottweilers. Ew. They are quite religious too, and oh, poor me darn it, every one of them could not be more successful, or more sadly regretful at the messiness our lives never quite seem to (loudly) stop turning into. But...one of the sons turned out to have been an addict. There were other things happening too, under the radar. Deliciously juicy and for me (BAD CEDAR!), highly validating things. :O) It is just that they happen quietly. Everyone continues to smile politely, and to dress well. This is not always so, in our family. The last time we were all dressed well was like, 1982. Oh, wow. I would have been totally uncomfortable, too. We have some friends like that. One son is head of Pediatrics somewhere and one is a professor. It sucks being friends with them. I actually have two sets of friends like that, now that I think about it. Same deal. Son is a full professor at a really famous university. I asked her once how she, a divorced, working mom, who has been known to dabble in the lighter recreational drugs herself, had managed to raise her son alone to become the man he must be. She said he has always been really bright. (Too bright to get hooked on drugs being the implication.) Well, kick me in the pants. Why do I have friends like that, anyway. I am reading Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird. She is writing about jealousy ~ the kind that makes us feel even worse than we might have, without our rotten neighbors or peers celebrating their good fortune at every turning while we share what we have learned about the importance of dry socks to the homeless. "...she said this other writer was in my life to help me heal my past. She said this writer had helped bring up a lifetime's worth of feeling that other families were happier than ours, that other families had some owner's manual to go by. [I]She said it was once again that business of comparing my insides to other people's outsides."[/I] Italics are mine. It is true though, that some families seem to function beautifully. Dirty rats. Cedar [/QUOTE]
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Anyone else just chilling in peace on Christmas Eve?
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