Everyone has that Eccentric Relative
Everyone has that eccentric relative. They’re the one that speaks in non sequiturs. They might dress a little different. They might prepare strange or exotic foods. They might travel the globe and stay in elder hostels. If your life was made into a made-for-TV movie they might be played by Cloris Leachman or perhaps Danny DeVito. And the really cool thing about them is that you don’t love them despite how different or odd they are, you love them because of how different they are. Well, my family is no different. And this week we were lucky enough to have her as a guest in our home for nearly the entire week.
Now, I’ve heard stories about how she was when she was younger. She was the one that got my wife enrolled in dance classes. She was the one that would call and take my wife for the night just because she needed some kid therapy. She was the one that would read my mother-in-law bedtime stories when she was just a babe herself. Nonetheless, until she stayed with us this week, I had never really seen her in that light. I have known her for 9 years, but most of our meetings have been at her house for less than 2 hours or at family gatherings where you rarely have more than 15 minutes to talk to any one person because there are so many people there.
What a treat it was this week to watch her with my daughter. They bonded very quickly and it was great to hear them both laughing. It gave me a new perspective and a new appreciation for my eccentric relative. It also made me re-think my appraisal of her. We talked quite a bit this week about everything from politics and the war to family and child-rearing and it made me realize how similar we really are (and perhaps a little nervous that I might be someone else’s eccentric relative).
Anyway, Aunt Dot , if you ever read this, thank you so much for coming up and spending the week us.
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