Let Me Tell You Something About My Family

When we were little, my and all my cousins on my Mom's side were very close. There were only 6 of us so we banded together against our crazy parents and aunts and uncles. Then in 1972 when I was seven, our family moved to Europe and for some reason we heard very little from our relatives, something that hurt me and my sister very much.

It was bad enough that the BC hillbillies (my Dad's side) were jealous because they were stuck in the nickel smelter in Trail and my father was smart enough to leave at 15 and join the Army. Frankly I was always happier to live on the bases around the world than be judged by those inbred idiots.

One summer the BC Cousins started a country band and they were horrible, despite all the love that was lavished on them despite their lack of talent. No one ever asked me how I was or what I was doing when we made the trek so my Dad could see his family. I have problems with people who refuse to acknowledge my presence in a room.

When we moved back to Canada, all the cousins that were so close to me five years earlier has pretty much forgotten I existed. My cousin Frank, who I adored as the nearest thing I ever had to a big brother had no time for me either.

 

Suddenly I assumed the black sheep role because I made it very clear that I didn't drive for a visit only to be ignored and stopped talking to them since that day. I was the kind of a kid that took things very seriously and never got over being slighted.

Of course it didn't help that I was ten times more education than all of them and for a kid who had a pilot's license at age 16 and spend his summer training at Air Cadet Camp, maybe they didn't have alot in common with me.

When I was in Grade 11, my Cousin Cyndi came to live with us because she was getting into alot of trouble in her home town. My parents gladly took her in and she became like a sister to me. Because we had a lot more in common we would hang together and she didn't ignore me and put me down like my own sister did - who also had nothing but jealously for Cyndi so you understand that her being there did little to improve how terrible me and my sister generally treated each other.

Since Cyndi left she has made a life for herself away from our relatives (who treated her worse than they treated me) and has since travelled the world. I am so proud of the person she has become when I see pictures like this from her recent Jungle safari.

 

Of course, all my stupid relatives have only heard that she was in Africa but no one was able to message her or get her to message back. Instead of freaking out and worrying everyone that she was dead, they could have just went to her Facebook page and see that she has just posted a St. Patrick's Day picture so obviously she is home, safe and sound. I found that out in a about ten minutes. I encouraged her to let everyone know she is okay so I don't have to get involved with the rest of my family.

 

If she is letting them all stew for being such assholes in her life, then good for her. I admire the way she has lived the life SHE wanted to. You go girl. I am so proud of you. You shame me with all the accomplishments and the adventurous life you have made for yourself. - Machu Pichu, Galapagos Islands, Italy, and now Africa. Between the two of us we have see most all of the world - well the good parts anyways. And that is further than any of my hillbilly relatives went beyond their front door.

 

I wish I was worthy to be a part of your life Cyndi.