Lighting the bulb of brilliance

Clodfobble · 04-04-2004, 10:37 PM

I can very much relate to the "lightbulb" feeling. It's like you don't like them OR dislike them, they're just your family, and you never think about it until long after you've been capable of adequately judging whether you like a person or not.

I had a similar revelation about my grandmother: thought she was just this sweet, nice but boring old woman. One day my mother was telling me about some conversation they'd had, and quoted a VERY nasty comment my grandmother had made to her. When I expressed shock, she was surprised, said grandma had always been that way, how did I ever miss it? She told me more, some things I'd even been present for--and indeed, I couldn't believe I'd never realized it.

But on the other hand (and side of the family), when I was about 15 I learned that I had 4 cousins that I didn't even know about, and because we were pretty much all that was left of (that side of) the family my dad decided we needed to band together, so we all flew in from our respective states and met. It was an amazing week, and though we're still really far apart and have only physically reunited all together once since then, we've kept constant contact over the internet. All of us have since admitted that we never expected how compatible we'd all be, and it was just one of the most uplifting and cool get-togethers we've ever been a part of.

So yeah, having a lightbulb go off about a family member can be pretty damn disturbing. But every family's got 'em, and maybe when you least expect it you'll discover a relative you never knew about who'll turn out to be your new closest friend. Don't let a few assholes make you write off the whole category of "family."

04-04-2004, 10:37 PM	#16
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	I can very much relate to the "lightbulb" feeling. It's like you don't like them OR dislike them, they're just your family, and you never think about it until long after you've been capable of adequately judging whether you like a person or not. I had a similar revelation about my grandmother: thought she was just this sweet, nice but boring old woman. One day my mother was telling me about some conversation they'd had, and quoted a VERY nasty comment my grandmother had made to her. When I expressed shock, she was surprised, said grandma had always been that way, how did I ever miss it? She told me more, some things I'd even been present for--and indeed, I couldn't believe I'd never realized it. But on the other hand (and side of the family), when I was about 15 I learned that I had 4 cousins that I didn't even know about, and because we were pretty much all that was left of (that side of) the family my dad decided we needed to band together, so we all flew in from our respective states and met. It was an amazing week, and though we're still really far apart and have only physically reunited all together once since then, we've kept constant contact over the internet. All of us have since admitted that we never expected how compatible we'd all be, and it was just one of the most uplifting and cool get-togethers we've ever been a part of. So yeah, having a lightbulb go off about a family member can be pretty damn disturbing. But every family's got 'em, and maybe when you least expect it you'll discover a relative you never knew about who'll turn out to be your new closest friend. Don't let a few assholes make you write off the whole category of "family."

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