For the past few days I’ve been worried out of my mind about something. The love of my life wants to visit me next month. Now this in itself is wonderful, nearly 10 years of speaking with her, growing close to her, sharing good times and bad with her. The problem comes in how much I’ve told my family about her, my relationship with my family is…arms length, I don’t talk to them unless either I or they need something, and for so long that’s worked out well enough„ ,now however I need something that they require input on. You see she’d be staying with us, and as far as that goes I have next to no idea how they’d react to me asking to let someone who they consider a “complete stranger” stay in our house for any length of time.

My mother and my sister talk, ceaselessly, its almost impossible to get them to stop talking about something once their mind is set into motion. I don’t know why then, that I thought my mom would be tactful when I asked her initially about my love staying with me. She didnt, I managed to discover that shes told not only my sister, her friend, and my aunt, but also her sisters husband and my mothers boyfriend also found out, near immediately (clearly I was mistaken in even thinking that my mother knew anything of the word tact let alone how to manage it)

Anyway after a night full of drunken shenanigans, alcohol induced social interaction (i’m a bit of an introvert) a very interesting football game, and several “deep family conversations” I discovered that beyond all of my families chiding, joking, tactless joking, and lack of trust in my ability to make good decisions, they actually do care and hope that in the end my feelings aren’t shattered by finally meeting the woman I’ve come to feel a deep connection with over all these years. Beyond what I thought about my families closed-mindedness they seem to truly care about the strange loner that lives in their house…and I’m actually proud to call them family.