2016.09.07

I look back on this long Labor Day weekend and shake my head in amazement. 

We made it. For the first time in over three years, MW had family at our house and somehow we made it through. We're still going - still living the lie with no outside interference. 

Incredible.

But then, maybe not so much. Her family are terrible; just awful people. I truly believe they get a charge out of knowing she is sick. A real perverse Schadenfreude is going on with those slags.

Here's why I think so:

There were two sets of cousins in town this weekend: one from her mother's side (they are also at risk); one from her father's. For the most part, MW gets along with her maternal side relatives. Don't misunderstand that to mean they keep in touch or offer support or help of any kind, but she can talk to them without getting yelled at. Her paternal side is a different story. Three years ago when MW expressed concern that she might have HD, her father's sister called MW up and yelled at her about it. She said it wasn't an excuse for disobeying her dad.

True. 

Anyway, the maternal cousins were staying at our house; but when the paternal ones tried to contact us for a visit, I didn't respond to nor did I tell MW they were in town. I'd hoped they would just go away.

Of course, they didn't. They came over unannounced and with no invitation.

This is Texas. If I owned a gun.... Sadly, I wasn't even in the house when they rang the bell. I was out back with the dog. When I came in, MW had already opened the front door.

You can imagine the shock, fear and rage I felt when I found them standing in my living room. Maybe they saw it on my face, or maybe not; but for some reason they were unexpectedly polite and civil. The situation made MW nervous - I could tell by the hyper way she spoke and her exaggerated movements - but she did not get upset. She just went on one of her protracted rants about the evils of pharmaceutical drugs which ate up an hour of conversation. By the end of that, they'd had enough and left peaceably.

After they'd gone, MW summed it up perfectly: "They came by to see if I have Huntington's," she said.

And she was right, I'm sure. To MW's mind, however, she believes they were either still uncertain or convinced otherwise. 

But I'm pretty sure MW's conversation was odd enough; her movements disjointed enough, that they left knowing she was sick.

And God help me (and them. More them.) I honestly believe they left happy.

What can you do about people like that? I've long since given up any hope for help or even sympathy from that side of MW's family, but at least they could be decent enough to leave us alone to die in peace. It's like they can't wait to dance on our graves so they come by to wiggle their hips just to give us an early taste. I don't have the time or energy to expend much emotion on hate these days, but whatever I have goes to those fucking assholes.

The maternal cousins were much better. They were just using our casa as a landing place while they attended a wedding, so they weren't around very often. That made it easy. Also, the boy's mother is currently in the final stages of HD, so he himself is waiting for the "No Country For Old Men" coin to drop. Therefor, he is more empathetic and patient with MW. Him and his wife were good company. MW enjoyed herself around them and so the weekend was a success despite the ghouls showing up.

My gripe with the maternal side of MW's family is how they, too, try to run and hide from the disease even though it's already latched to their backs, screaming in their ears. Not that I blame them - I'm doing the same thing in extreme - but I imagine how much better things could be if everybody was open and honest; proactive and supportive instead of hushed and furtive. Maybe then MW wouldn't be so intractable against seeking medical help.

Maybe, but probably not. Nice to think about anyway.