Just a Response Letter

This is my delayed explanation for my recent irritation with my family...

Let's recap what has happened since Christmas:

• I was informed that my mother couldn't have a family heirloom because she'd just put it in her basement! -- hmm... sounds like a shitty excuse to me. So she values her items so she keeps them safe. It's not like she has a lot of company to show them off to... yet?
• My family was left out of the loop on whether or not a ceratin family member was recovering okay. -- Seriously, even when my family found out she was okay, no one bothered to let them know when she made it home from the hospital!
• My family gets snowed in without electricity and no one else in the family calls to see if they are okay. -- They did of course take the time to call me & see if I was snowed in. I did not answer the call, nor did I return it because frankly I figured they could check The Weather Channel and know I didn't get any snow!
• I get a letter asking me if I'm upset about anything and begging me to let them know if I am. -- Obviously, if you have reason to suspect that I'm upset, I probably am! However, upset pregnant women should not make phone calls or write letters to people they are extremely pissed off at! Not to mention the fact that the letter clearly misrepresented the truth of what actually happened.
• My family finally gets a phone call. -- The caller, however, does not ask about my mother. Basically, it was just a call to see if the snow had melted (ummm... it's 70 degrees out, what do you think?) and to see if my Dad had talked to me.

Now that we're all up to speed on the comings and goings of the family business. Let me explain a few simple facts:

• I do not appreciate hearing about my mother's mistakes, misgivings, errors, flaws, or aspects that you otherwise dislike about her. I have NO disallusions about who my mother is or how she thinks. I have NO confusions about my mother's past. I have NO tolerance for ANYONE who cannot keep their DAMN opinions to themselves on the subjects of my mother, her past, how she raised me, or what they think of her.
• I do not care if it's a 200-year-old heirloom that has passed through generations of our family. I will not accept, display or otherwise store any family item that did not take it's proper course. If you feel there is an item that you desperately wish for me to have, then very simply, you need to offer it to my mother. It's not a complicated process. In any normal family it would be pretty easy to understand. When she kicks the bucket, I GET IT ALL!! Such are the joys of being an ONLY CHILD!! I don't have to fight over anything!! IT'S MINE!!!!
• and...
• This is not a negotiable situation! Blame the hormones. Blame the fact that I'm a selfish only child. Blame it on whatever you want. It will not change the fact that the reason I am being this way is because I refuse to let my daughter be exposed to the messed up family environment that I grew up in. When you finally come to terms with this fact (I know it might take a while because you've spent years placing the blame elsewhere, and you have no remorse for your own mistakes) and accept that YOU are the only one you can blame, then maybe we can make progress towards fixing the problem.

And further more...

• You have FOUR children! I realize that only THREE of them went on to procreate children from which you could JUDGE them by, however, you STILL have FOUR CHILDREN!! And there are some things that you should know about your FOUR children:
• NONE of them are PERFECT!!
• ALL of them made their fair share of MISTAKES!!
• NONE of them have totally ruined their lives!!
• ALL of them are worthy of being PROUD OF!!
• NONE of them deserve to be spoke ill of by their own parents!!
• ALL of them deserve your LOVE!!
• They may not ALL have married PERFECT people!
• They may not ALL have raised PERFECT children!
• They may not ALL have kissed you ass at every given moment!
• They may not ALL do things you agree with!
• BUT... they are ALL your children... and if they have ANY flaws that you cannot handle, you need to remember that YOU raised ALL of them!!

And still...

• YOU did NOT raise ANY of your grandchildren!
• YOUR grandchildren were raised by their parents!
• If you think so HIGHLY of your GRANDCHILDREN you should THANK their parents!

And last but not least, a few more reasons that you should be THANKFUL for ALL of you children...

• They love you, despite YOUR flaws.
• They allowed you to be around your grandchildren, despite YOUR mistakes.
• They did great jobs of raising their children, despite YOUR example.
• They all sorted through their issues and have finally found happiness, despite YOUR opinions.

Now that everything is all laid out on the table, I think you need some time to reflect on these issues. When I feel that these issues have been resolved, and I feel like moving past this, I will let you know. Until then, I suggest you either find a way to rectify the situation, or you find someone else to blame and come to terms with the fact that I will not tolerate it any more.