“I’d Like To Thank All The Crazy People…”

I come from a long line of crazy people. I am of the opinion that my mother's side of the family is the charming kind of crazy- where [most of them] are a little/ very loopy with the best of intentions, whereas my father's side of the family is the kind of crazy that requires lots of medication and rubber walls. This is my non-medical opinion since I am not a doctor and I also do not play one on TV.

So, my Auntie Wolf [translation of her nickname- she's my mom's first cousin] is giving me all of my mother's needlepoint. When Mom went "back to her roots" with the camels and desert theme, she gave/ loaned Auntie Wolf all of the "Anglo Needlepoint".

Auntie Wolf has a keen appreciation for fine things, and snapped up all of Mom's needlepoint, almost angry that Mom was planning on just boxing it all up. She spent loads of money getting it all framed/re-framed so that these beautiful pieces- the culmination of thousands of hours of my mother's handwork, could be displayed with the respect and presentation that they demand.

Auntie Wolf called me a few months ago, and commented on the bare walls at our house. She generously is giving me the needlepoint LONG before she dies (I assumed that I wouldn't be able to pry it away from her otherwise), so we have been making arrangements to make a trip to collect it.

I called to touch base with her, and she asked how the family was doing. The latest family drama is this: my father's sister ["Auntie Angel" is how her name translates] has been telling everyone who will listen that my father gave us a great big down payment for the house. Isn't he generous? The problem with this is although he promised to help us with the down payment (about 25% of the total down payment we put down OURSELVES), we haven't gotten a red cent of the money he promised.

Social pressure is a huge thing for Persian people. Auntie Angel telling all of the relatives that my father has already made good on his promise means that there is no social pressure on my father to cough up the cash. I've written it off; I'm never going to get it. It upsets me that he looks like he's generous and magnanimous when in reality, he's the same cheap, "big-talking", jerk he's always been.

So, I told Auntie Wolf what Auntie Angel was dong, because it really upsets me that my own father cares more about his nieces and nephews than his own children- but I've been battling this since I was a kid. Auntie Wolf apologized that Andrew and I have it as hard as she did, but she praised my ability to find balance and success in my life. She also praised my mother for raising me to be the only really sane person in our family.

I laughed. I'm not all that sane. I told her I felt like I'd gotten the "least crazy" award for our family.

I suppose it's the whole "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" thing.

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