Let me just tell you a bit about my family. Only one grandmother left alive, stepsister lives in Canada with her mom, mother lives in England and depressed father locked all alone in his flat on the other side of the city. I live together with my granny and my uncle who’s like a brother to me. I’m not really that bothered actually, to have my family scattered all around the place. I got used to it, even though it’s always hard to please everyone. They always expect so much from me and I’m not really what they think I am. Reality is often disappointing. Complicated as it is, it’s always nice to think about family reunions. To have all my family around me like the good ol’ times is such a nice thing to daydream about.
Unfortunately this one doesn’t seem to be the kind of reunion that I spent months dreaming about. I’m sitting at the table surrounded by angry adults that think they know what’s best for me. They have been arguing for about 20 minutes about what I should do with my future. Isn’t this an annoying question: “have you decided what career path you want to follow”? I always struggle with the answer and I always tell them to leave me alone, and still, they never cease their bugging. I want to get up and leave but I know I will later feel guilty about it. I thought that i might enjoy this evening , considering the fact that we only do this like once in a blue moon, but no...I just have to listen to this charade without a complaint. I can hear them throwing job names at each other: “Lawyer”, doctor”, lawyer”, “web-designer”, “tattoo artist”???, “doctor”, “just let me be” I hear my voice weakly saying out of the blue. “But Carla this is about you!! Don’t you think you should seriously consider an option?? Highschool is almost over you should hurry up and decide!!” My mom starts ranting without an end...seriously?? out of all these people my mom should understand me best but instead she’s the main antagonist. My father looks at me with saddened eyes and gets up, walks towards me and lays a hand on my shoulder. “Maybe we should stop... we didn’t gather, just so we could argue about something that will come naturally in the end. She’s still young, let her be.” Of course my father would be the one stopping all of this, he has always been a pacifist. I sit up and look over the table. They are all staring at me surprised at my sudden action, my father is still behind me, I glare at them and simply say: “ we gathered here as a family at the dinner table, not as delegates in a conference hall! Can you see where I’m going? I’m fed up with this. I’ve been waiting with excitement all these weeks for this reunion and look at us! Arguing! Can’t we just enjoy this dinner and talk about how we have been and how nice it is to finally be together?” I am not crying and I’m not screaming, I’m just calm. I want to run away felling feeling embarrassed as they stare at me and I almost push my chair back, but suddenly I hear my grandma say: “ the child is right. We got so worked up about such a small issue that we forgot to enjoy ourselves! I didn’t even get to nag my ex-son-in-law!” They all start laughing and suddenly I feel a jolt of happiness in my chest. Yes, this is what I wanted! To see them smile!
I sit back down and watch them while I sip my cranberry juice, with a smile on my face. Having a scattered family is not that bad after all.
Last edited by Ihavenoideea (2019-06-10 21:09:16)
