lakeliving
Well-Known Member
So I got a call today that my Grandma has stage 4 lung cancer that has spread to her lymph nodes and bones. She is 78 and one of the sweetest women in the world. My Grandfather died back in 96 and they would always take us to stay with them at their home in Oscoda Mi. To be honest most of my great childhood memories involve them. They took me and my siblings fishing, out to pick wild blue berries, golfing, boating etc. (I even have my grampa's old 12 gauge shotgun)We were always doing something outside. Fast forward to a couple years ago and our family began to fall apart. My dad is a fun guy who is there for you one minute, then an aggressive sometimes physical a-hole the next. Needless to say I told him I was done with him and haven't spoken to him (or siblings who idolize him) in over two years. You could never disagree with him or have your own opinion and that gets old. I don't care if your 100% right or wrong, I think it is very sad when people can not control themselves, look at the big picture and realize we're all different, all have are own opinions, ideas and are on this planet for a unknown limited amount of time. I essentially removed myself from that environment as to not have that around me, my wife, or any possible future children. I can handle the verbal, raise your hand and it's game over. I didn't want to be around that any longer as I knew it would eventually come to me fighting my way out of a corner and I didn't want to have to live with that. With that said there was a lot of collateral damage along the way, I distanced myself from my grandma as she was still in contact with him, I've only talked to my mom once basically to tell her I'm not going be around that behavior/mindset. I did talk to my grandma months ago and talked to her about the family issues and she completely agreed with me and what I was doing. It was nice to have done that prior to all this. I talked to her on the phone earlier today and it was nice to hear her say I love you and not to worry that she knows how I feel about her. All I can say is I hope we all take time to remind our selves how short and precious life is. We always think we have all the time in the world to change who we are, try something new and the reality is we often don't. I hear all the stories about families coming together and fishing etc and it breaks my heart as I want that so dearly and am currently unable to have that (at least with my family, my in laws are the best and have been an absolute life saver, I cherish every minute we have with them and have recently began fishing with my father in law) The good news is that I am learning this early in life, and will use the experiences had thus far to guide me into the best person I can be. My grandma loves my meatloaf so I told her we'll have her over soon for a boat ride and dinner. I could hear the excitement in her voice. Sorry for the sappy post but I had to get this off my chest. If my embarrassing family issues can help inspire just one person to improve on themselves than this post will be worth it. So thanks to all for being part of my Bennington Family!!
