mel13

I am headed back to work today. Only three days this week before we begin the holiday break. I am holding out the hope that my students will manage to behave themselves and be angelic for these three days (is that too much to ask?....don't say it...I know the answer). We are headed to Florida at the end of the week, to stay a week...I am not overjoyed, but it is fine. I honestly would rather be staying at home alone, not out of bah humbugness, I love Christmas, I am just tired and thoughtful this year. I am not looking forward to keeping my head down to avoid my family.

And this past year has not been a smooth one where my estranged family is concerned. My father died from cancer this past month, and he made it clear that he did not want to see me. My evil sister (that is the best thing I can call her) took it upon herself to get in touch with me, simply to tell me all the vicious things my parents had to say about me and how awful my father's experiences were. I had to once again, in the nicest possible way, tell my sister that I have no desire to play these games anymore and that I have made a concerted effort to extract all the negative things I learned from my family from my life. She said that I am a mean and critical person who is cruel and heartless (hence the 'evil sister'). I should point out that my older brother broke all family ties 15 years ago, he is an 'awful' person too.
I had to learn what it meant to love someone, how to take a compliment at face value, how to accept gifts and random kindness, how to accept love honestly and with joy. I do not devalue these lessons, in fact I think I am a better person for having forced myself to actively learn them on my own.