I have mentioned before that I moved here to Indiana at the request of my widowed mother who has a very bad heart. It was a wrench to have to put 95% of my things in storage and give up my independence but it was something I knew in my heart that I had to do. There were things that only a daughter could do such as treat the growths on her back and sides that could turn cancerous if not burned off. The hardest part was knowing I would be dealing with my extreme right wingnut brother. My military Dad had complained before he died that Mike was around the bend with his political views. But my Mom needs me so I came.
Over the last five years I have helped her through another heart attack. I got the forms and photographed proof necessary to sue a roofer whose shoddy work caused major damage. I got her to change insurance agents and we finally know the true worth of the house. I do her shopping every Saturday. I talk with her. I will listen as she talks about my Dad.
My brother continues to be his normal thoughtless self. He is the oldest and her baby and she still does everything for him. That will never change. He has a decent job because I got it for him. He started getting his military retirement benefits because I fought and got them for him. His only child got through a painful marriage and being abandoned with $15.00 and three children under the age of six because I was there for her emotionally. I was the one who talked her into dating again. I was the one who talked her into giving love a chance and now she is married to a wonderful man who loves her and her children.
I’ve only lost it twice in the last five years for my Mom’s sake. Once when my brother kept criticizing the department I work in and blaming us for his people not doing their jobs and then there was Saturday night.
My brother started in on Obama doing nothing to save Captain Phillips. I tried to reason with him and explain that the President had to take into account international law in his actions and knew when he replied "there is no international law" that it was hopeless. The frustration of having my dinner interrupted every night with Fox news and every Sunday morning with my Mom by his talking wingnuts shows, my irritation at coming home from a hard day at work to find McCain/Palin signs on our lawn without anyone asking me how I felt, and the anger of being the only one who takes care of our Mom finally took its toll. I exploded. I screamed at him to just shut up. I told him I was sick of his right wing bullcrap. I stormed upstairs and into my computer room and slammed the door and cried.
My Mom couldn’t understand why I was so upset until I finally told her how it feels to have an upset stomach every night from listening to Fox news. To her "well it’s his house too" I replied it is my house too and did anyone ask me how I felt about the McCain/Palin signs? I told her about the things people like Glenn Beck and Newt Gingrich and Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh had been saying. She is losing her hearing and can’t understand what is being said when she is in the dining room and he has Fox on in the living room. I told her about being an Obama supporter from the time that he ran for Senator when I was living in Illinois. I told her how their nuttery about Obama taking everyone’s guns led to the attacks that killed the policemen. The lifelong Republican seemed to take it okay that her only daughter was a liberal Democrat. She finally understood my frustration.
I was overjoyed that President Obama ordered the Navy SEALS to rescue Captain Phillips. I was proud of the fact that he kept quiet and let the experts do their job. I was glad he knows to keep quiet and not to jeopardize a military operation. I am glad we finally have a President.
I am also proud of my Mom. She actually listened to me. My brother knows not to talk politics around me now. And he has to keep the sound down on Fox so that I don’t hear it in the dining room. It is a small victory. I doubt I will ever get to her to vote Democrat but at least she is willing to listen a little when I tell her the good things that our President is doing.