smokingboot

It seems criminal that my mood can be lightened by trivial things, in the face of all the misery all over the news, all over the world.

But I can't help it. Christmas was looking really difficult; I inevitably spend most of the season on trains or in cars between Manchester, London and Wokingham. We have been in the house for 2 (3?) years and I have never spent Christmas here. This is difficult because my mother, a lady quite ill and not easy to deal with, likes me to spend Christmas with her, and my brother is sick of her behaviour (her illness makes her very difficult to live with at times) He just won't have anything to do with her at Christmas. So it is inevitably down to me.

The result for me is usually days of travel and nights on sofas; ten days of bad back-ache and living out of a suitcase. I can do it but it's not what I want for Yule. So, with my love's agreement, I have invited Mother up for Christmas, and she has agreed.

Now, her agreement doesn't mean much. She is capable of changing her mind at the drop of a hat. But whether she goes with my aunt to Spain or comes up to us, or stays at home, the power is in her hands, and the active decision comes down to her. My mother, perhaps without knowing it, has a line in passive-aggressive emotional blackmail that would put Joan Crawford to shame. Hopefully she will behave well, and if she doesn't...well, back to the drawing board. I think she will.

But my heart is singing because my love has shown such compassion and patience about this awful situation. How kind he is! I feel so loved!