After losing my Dad to cancer late last year my Mom moved to Florida to be with her twin sister. I always felt it was the best thing for her considering the loss. Now Hurricane Irma is bearing down on their location and I'm genuinely worried for their safety. I've intentionally tried to stay away from news reports about the storm because all of the headliners are precarious.
Through text I told my Mom that if they needed to evacuate her and her sister would both be welcome to stay at my place indefinitely but my Mom's sister refused; she wants to stay exactly where she is.
To be honest I expected this because my Mom's sister is tough as nails. Not to slight my Mother in any way because she is really smart but her twin lead a very different life. While my Mom was enjoying the American dream of having a family and being part of a community, her sister bounced around at the mercy of some bad excuses for human beings. Her children are quite successful (if you consider having a lot of money as success) but they largely ignore her along with anyone else they deem unworthy. I knew both of her kids when they were young and have met them again in recent years where they also actively wrote me off. This is nothing new to me because I realized a long time ago that people suck and even though I came from a loving family conversations with acquaintances taught me the worst betrayals come from people you trust.
Stay with me now because here is a digression.
Also to consider, my Mom's twin flew in after hearing of my Dad's death. She was there the day of my Dad's funeral which was an extremely uncomfortable day my Mother and me. She handled it better than me. I stayed sober until after the funeral ceremony was over; we were probably 4 blocks from the funeral home, I drove both ways, the service was a true religious experience, and my mind still can't define the event. I know my Dad would have been happy with the procession. Sometime during the event snow began to fall.
I got high as a kite directly after the funeral because it was the only way I could get through the ensuing gathering. My sister's boyfriend and I shoveled snow from the back porch so we could have a place to smoke. I confessed to him I was far too stoned to deal with the amount of people and he told me he wished he was stoned.
Once we were done shoveling I went inside to see the house full of people, wall to wall. I hadn't seen many of them ever in my life yet they knew my Father's name and I saw my Mother taking condolences from them. None of them talked to me though, I was practically a ghost to any guest we had. The one good memory I have from this day is talking to my Mother's sister. After wandering around I sat next to her and my nephews because it was the most comfortable place I could find. I told her I was really high and she told me a story that actually made me genuinely laugh. From that point on I interacted with people who I will never see again and likely won't remember me, I got a few laughs, and I maintained despite my poor state until the gathering ended.
Now with Hurricane Irma on the horizon I just want my Mom and her Sister to be okay. I hope they will be and if I were into religion I'd pray. It is at this exact thought that I laugh because I know they are both from a time when humanity wasn't as useless as it is now.