I had already written a whole post on differences in families. How two people from the same bloodline can be so different. I 'borrowed' the idea from a post Lettice did on her blog
http://lettice14.blogspot.com/2020/05/i-wish-i-didnt.html I have felt for a long time that I am very different from my brother and my mother and had it all typed out ready for publishing. However, I stopped and had a think and decided what I'd written was all a bit too personal and that my brother would be mortified if I laid out all his, lets say, idiosyncrasies for all to read! So this is a diluted version!
Suffice it to say, my brother lives a very small, controlled world where he won't fly anywhere in case the plane crashes, he's got lots of issues round health, he's become very very nervous, he has routines he must stick to regardless etc etc. My mum has always had routines. Cleaning is her hobby/work. Neither store any food. Both have a huge mistrust of the freezer - its for ice cream! Both shop daily in normal circumstances. Neither would ever consider buying second hand anything. Neither consider food growing as fun or useful (though both are happy to take plums and eating apples from my trees!).
 |
| This is home grown veg from last year. |
I love to grow food for us, I cannot tell you how much joy I get when I go out and pick lettuce, peas, carrots, potatoes etc for our dinner. I love finding ways to use the apples and plums in the garden and consider it sacrilege when people allow fruit to just fall from a tree and not use any. I have been round the world and travelled widely - I love to travel, and I hate cleaning or routine. My dog gets walked when I feel like it, certainly daily, but not always at the same time every day. My freezer is full to brimming with sauces, soups, homemade meals and yes, some ice cream and I could go for two or more weeks without going near a shop for food. When lockdown happened hubby said to me 'you've been preparing for this all your life haven't you!' He's right. I'm a squirrel and have loads of food (I didn't need to stockpile toilet rolls at the beginning, I already had a stockpile!); books, magazines, hobby stuff and everything else you'd need to survive an apocolypse!
 |
| This is the one and only squash I managed to grow last year. |
|
I feel sorry for my brother and his very small life, but perhaps that's wrong of me. Who's to say my way is right and his is wrong. I certainly couldn't live like him and I daresay he would feel the same way about my life. They do say 'viva la difference' and thats right and proper, but I still think my way is better!! xx
Well I never! My first thought, does your brother read your blog? Second thought, sadly maybe he is too busy with all his little hang-ups, which seem on the surface to be absolutely awful for him to be in the grip of! Cleaning, not something I am very good at, I try my very hardest not to notice, however it doesn’t always work. I am a top show girl. People are fascinating don’t you find? Not having any family I am endlessly interested in other’s lives. Probably says a huge amount about me, more than them don’t you think? Nowt so queer as folk, ‘cept me and thee and thou’s a bit queer! so the Yorkshire folk say. Onwards and upwards MG...
ReplyDeleteLX
No, I haven't told anybody in the family about my blog. I feel I can speak more freely then! However, if I've learned nothing else in this life its that things have a way of being found out! So I decided not to take the risk. There is indeed nowt so queer as folk. I just seem to know an awful lot of them lol. xx
DeleteI have a brother who sounds a bit like yours. As the youngest of 7 it took me many years to figure out he was most likely autistic but had never been diagnosed (he's 71 now). But his behaviour pretty much fits that of someone quite high on the scale. Then of course, with the best intentions in the world, mom and dad basically "castrated" him, in the sense of doing everything for him, making all his decisions. He lives alone and can manage fine but I sense that my older sister is now taking on the "mom and dad" role too. I think he must be bored out of his mind living such a dull life, and truth be told I reckon he spends most of his time just sleeping when at home, but in the end who can really know if he's bored or not - just because his life would kill me!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure my brother would have been diagnosed with ADHD as a child, he was wild and I suppose the reason I felt he was the favourite was because he 'needed' more attention to keep him in line. That said, his personality changed dramatically about 3 years ago when he had a stroke (of sorts). It was a strange one and I think it wasn't really taken that seriously because my brother is a real hypochondriac and is always onto the doctor and every tiny ache and pain is meticulously researched and worried about. He is constantly terrified of everything now and his life is getting smaller and smaller and like you, his life would kill me. My mum complains about his wife and I tell her, in my opinion she's a saint, she puts up with him!!
DeleteI'm nothing like my family. We have a friend who knows 2 of my sisters, but didn't know that I was also related to them... I met him at cardiac rehab, and J knew him as he worked at the hospital. When he found out that I was their sister he couldn't believe it , in his words I was nice, and nothing like them!
ReplyDelete