Family: The Cheer(-y) of Relativity

This weekend I got a birthday card and a phone call from two of my siblings, both pleasant surprises since it's been only recently that we've had more consistent conversations with one another (consistent, meaning, regular time intervals between communication, not in the syntax and semantic sense). My sister explained to me that she had made it about halfway through my book, but has had to pause for a bit to take a breather, that the memories being brought up for her have been a challenge. My brother said essentially the same thing, though he hadn't even started the book yet. His relucatance has come from questions asked by his girlfriend and her mother, both of whom have read the book. He intends to read it and is happy that it's been written and is out there, but it's still a struggle. He really wants to talk more and has promised to call back later in the week. I must admit that there is an element of surprise on my part; I'm clearly ignorant in thinking that with all the baggage we all have from childhood, that there would have been no way NOT to have processed it over the years, as I have done. I guess I'd assumed that they'd have dealt with it, but apparently not. Looking at the struggles they have even today, it makes sense, I suppose. The toxicity of denial is...well, undeniable.

My neighbor had his family in town to visit for a long weekend and was pretty much out of commission the whole time. I think it might have been a stressful time for him since a brief phone call I made to him was exactly that--brief. I was talking to my partner and we were comparing the idea of family living nearby versus far away (my family vs. his family). I think that when family lives nearby it's easy to take one another for granted. Visits are sparse, short but communication is fairly frequent. When your family is far away, visits are sparse, long (when they happen) and communication is less frequent. I think that while having family come to visit is more valued ("It's been TOO long since we've seen each other!"), it can be overly stressful, since there is no getting away anytime soon. Maybe it's just me, but while I absolutely LOVE my family and enjoy the visits we have, I wonder what condition we'd all be in if we forced ourselves to stay in the same place for five days straight. Would this cluster of non or light drinkers, who have alcoholic DNA woven within us like a blanket, come out the other side with a bottle of Thunderbird wine in each hand, lurking outside the front doors of The Rainbow Lounge, tapping on the glass for the bartender to please open five minutes early? I wonder.