Family is Two Sides of the Same Coin

So for my mother's birthday, I told her I was engaged. She reacted as I expected I would, which was why I was so anxious about it. She squealed, flapped her hands, and tried to hug me from a sitting position. She tried to hug Myke, too, but he doesn't take that shit and just kind of huddled in the chair while managing Peach and trying not to die in his video game.

We're not assholes, I swear. My mother is a very difficult person to get along with. My dad was a saint for trying as long as he did. We affectionately refer to their separation-and-divorce period as "when my mother went crazy." The crazy was there beforehand. My mother is argumentative, paranoid, pushy, and loud. Maybe if I was a normal person I wouldn't mind the squealing, but loud noises really, really bother me.

There's also the fact that my mother will argue for the sake of arguing, and that I cannot forget her bawling to my father that my brother didn't need her anymore... When he was four. He could make a sandwich, he was all set. I'm also just a little bitter (This one's on me) that my parents blatantly favour my brother for his speech impediment. I got pushed; he got babied. He is still, at nineteen, being babied.

When I worked and lived at home, my income went to paying my way. He is working and living with my dad, and he's talking about buying a second laptop. For gaming. And my dad is only trying to talk him OUT of getting an Alienware.

I have a lot of issues with my family: they suck. Even so, they haven't done anything that means I don't love them, and they certainly help me out at least as much as they fail to. I guess I'm lucky: they rock.

That my dad yesterday waived a minor bill for us because of our trouble... And laughed about how I suck at budgeting. Way to go, dad! That my grandmother was able to come up with my mom, and we then had to patiently explain to her why my mom was freaking out. She gets to see a third granddaughter get married, if we play our cards right. That my brother and all that disposable income said, without prompting, "I'm helping them get married, too. I want to help."

That instead of spending the day freaking out, Peach was calm, and even cuddled her nemesis instead of barking.

 Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.