My extended Thanksgiving weekend was, on the whole, a peaceful, tranquil affair. We had an excellent repast on Thursday, followed by turkey leftovers with Mrs. Geek's family on Friday evening. Saturday showed all the signs of being more of the same, until I decided to make my usual Saturday morning phone call to my parents. My Mom and Dad abruptly ended the call when my Mom got fed up with something that my brother-in-law was doing and felt it necessary to get into a heated, noisy argument with him.
I've written before about how my sister and her family are living with my parents until they get back on their feet. While my brother-in-law has caused everyone some anxiety during his time under my parents roof, my parents usually like to keep a lot of the details under wraps. They (correctly) reason that we can't worry about what we don't know about... though Mrs. Geek and I seem to spend a fair amount of time wondering if there isn't something we could do, or how the health of our marriage compares with that of my sister. So, it was something of a surprise to hear things suddenly boil over while we were on the phone together. They told me that they would call back later.
After several slightly anxious hours of waiting through Saturday afternoon and evening, I called my parents back. They were just returning from an evening out with friends of theirs. My Mom and I spoke carefully at first, each trying to feel the other out about how this incident was perceived. We then gradually opened up, and I spoke with my Mom for about an hour.
I can't go into the details, but things are not going well. Though there are no formal plans in place, my sister and her husband appear to be preparing to go their separate ways. I don't know quite how to feel about that...
Perhaps bittersweet is the best word. I am glad that a trying relationship for my sister and my immediate family is ending, but dark days lay ahead.
said drgeek
on 2006-11-28 at 9:41 p.m.
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