coping skills

[redrhodie]

"My best friend's cousin's mother had that same illness..."

That's brilliant!

[redrhodie]

The frustrating part is, my dad has a lot of good stories, but those don't get told. I need to try to get some of those out. Now I'm getting an idea. Maybe I should try interviewing him, preparing some questions about my family history, his childhood, that kind of thing.

[Bike Writer]

The frustrating part is, my dad has a lot of good stories, but those don't get told. I need to try to get some of those out. Now I'm getting an idea. Maybe I should try interviewing him, preparing some questions about my family history, his childhood, that kind of thing.

I really think you're onto something here that could make this visit a bit different from your previous experiences. Once a person starts to reminisce they often drop the normal demeanor and kinda go back to how they behaved when they were a kid because they are reliving that time in their life. It would certainly bring a whole new perspective to both of your relationships to share something like this with your dad. I really hope that you can pull this off in the way you want to, good luck with that and best wishes for a better visit.

[tangentgirl]

Good luck, RR. Sounds like, warts and all, you love them, so keep that in mind and make the best of it.

[Susan]

I think the biggest problem with family is that you really love them but they drive you crazy at the same time. So on the one hand, you get angry about stupid thing they do or say, and on the other hand you feel really guilty about that.
I don't have much advice to offer. I love my parents and miss them if they are not here. But only as long as they are not here. And then I feel guilty about it and think that we should spend more time together because I am happy that I have them. Until they drive me crazy within one day...

I try to recall that I love them and stop myself if I start to get angry about something they do and I try to show that I love them. But I don't always succeed.