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Dec. 2nd, 2014 05:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckMy mother tells me that she and my step-father will be coming to Michigan some time this month. She wasn't sure if it would be before Christmas or after Christmas, but it will be after my step-father's term ends. He's a professor of social work at the university in Baton Rouge. They're making this trip for two reasons, the first is that they haven't been up here in a couple of years and want to see my family and my brother (who's in Kalamazoo) without the rushing around that there was around my grandfather's memorial (plus, my step-father couldn't come for the memorial because it was mid-term time).
The second reason is the big reason for when they're coming-- My step-father is making noises about wanting to retire to Michigan. My mother thinks he's forgotten what winter is like and how much work snow clearing involves. Mom is hoping that the cold weather will remind him of why they moved south to begin with. They've been trying to buy a house in order to spend summers in Michigan but haven't had any luck because they keep finding houses where the current owners are in over their heads and owe more than the house is actually worth. I think my step-father is assuming that they could just live in whatever house they find year round. He's not thinking about things like shoveling snow, and they're looking to buy over near Kalamazoo where there are often snowfalls of 10-12 inches at a time. It's unlikely that they'd be able to hire a snow removal service because they're looking to buy in a very small town (it doesn't even have its own grocery store).
I can kind of see why my step-father wants to return to Michigan. My brother is his only child, and neither of them are good at talking on the phone. My step-father has hearing trouble that makes the phone hard to use, and my brother is so private that it's hard to get him to talk much even in person. I mean, he's been dating a woman for nearly a decade and not a single member of the family has met her. I keep inviting him over for dinner and telling him he can bring her, but he never does. I sometimes wonder if she exists. I think he would tell us if he were gay, but he might not tell us if he were asexual. Being gay wouldn't be a big deal to any of us, not even my parents, but I'm not sure they'd understand being asexual. Of course, it might just be that he's embarrassed by his weird relatives and doesn't want to scare this woman off. Or maybe he doesn't want to introduce her to us because he doesn't view the relationship as that serious. He certainly has no interest in getting married so far as I know. He prefers living alone with his ferrets.
The second reason is the big reason for when they're coming-- My step-father is making noises about wanting to retire to Michigan. My mother thinks he's forgotten what winter is like and how much work snow clearing involves. Mom is hoping that the cold weather will remind him of why they moved south to begin with. They've been trying to buy a house in order to spend summers in Michigan but haven't had any luck because they keep finding houses where the current owners are in over their heads and owe more than the house is actually worth. I think my step-father is assuming that they could just live in whatever house they find year round. He's not thinking about things like shoveling snow, and they're looking to buy over near Kalamazoo where there are often snowfalls of 10-12 inches at a time. It's unlikely that they'd be able to hire a snow removal service because they're looking to buy in a very small town (it doesn't even have its own grocery store).
I can kind of see why my step-father wants to return to Michigan. My brother is his only child, and neither of them are good at talking on the phone. My step-father has hearing trouble that makes the phone hard to use, and my brother is so private that it's hard to get him to talk much even in person. I mean, he's been dating a woman for nearly a decade and not a single member of the family has met her. I keep inviting him over for dinner and telling him he can bring her, but he never does. I sometimes wonder if she exists. I think he would tell us if he were gay, but he might not tell us if he were asexual. Being gay wouldn't be a big deal to any of us, not even my parents, but I'm not sure they'd understand being asexual. Of course, it might just be that he's embarrassed by his weird relatives and doesn't want to scare this woman off. Or maybe he doesn't want to introduce her to us because he doesn't view the relationship as that serious. He certainly has no interest in getting married so far as I know. He prefers living alone with his ferrets.
