turkey day

This is gonna be a long one, so let me start off with a little about the characters. Joey's mom (Mom) has heart disease, and has for quite a while. Joey's brother (Ass) is an alcoholic who has a somewhat violent (stupid) side when drinking. Now some history--Mom and Ass were in a car accident back in '02 (he was drunk), the stress of it causing her condition to worsen to the point that a heart transplant was ominous, and would continue to get worse until transplant day. Now to the present...

About three weeks before Thanksgiving, Mom found out that she was going to need a pacemaker, and was going in for surgery soon after the holiday. Everyone in the family is concerned, but okay with it--we all knew it was coming. The exception being Ass.

Late that night he came to our house (drunk), demanding to talk to Joey. I met Ass at the door, telling him that Joey was sleeping (which he was). He then started shouting at me, trying to tell me Joey was cheating on me, that I didn't care that mom was going for surgery, that I was the reason for her condition (by my kids visiting her--he claims I pawn them off--actually, she cries when they don't come), etc. (Joey, in the meantime, was awoken by the yelling, but didn't come out, only because if he did, he would have just knocked Ass down the steps, resulting in him going to jail.) Then the kicker--he tells me he's going to get a shotgun, and kill our family. I had my phone in my hand with the police dialed, and was just about to hit "send" when a cop was at the bottom my the steps. Turns out Joey called them from in the house when he heard all the yelling, knowing full well who it was outside. Ass turned into a big baby when the cops came...whatever. They arrested him for drunk and disorderly, and his girlfriend (who was with him) bailed him out.

The next morning, while we were getting the kids ready for school, the phone rang. I answered...it was Ass again, saying again what he had said last night, about the gun. I called the cops this time, and they came to the house and took a statement...they're pressing harrassment charges, and we're going to court soon.

Fast forward to Turkey Day. Ass was going to be at Mom's house, as well as another family member we'd rather not be around. So we opted to cook dinner at home, complete with turkey and all the fixins. Even pumpkin pie. Yum. As for Mom, she called once to talk to the kids, boohooed a little, and that was it. A nice, relaxing day eating lots of food, watching football, and spending time with the kids. Couldn't ask for a better holiday.

As for Mom, she had the surgery...all went well, and she's doing a-ok.

til next time...=)