So we had Turkey Day, as you do in America — and there were some changes. Dad’s been gone 3 years now, and Gran has been gone almost 2 years, and their hold over us living folks is growing less and less. One of the main changes is that Mum has a boyfriend now.
He’s a nice little Cajun man, what I think of as a “paw paw”— short, bald, friendly, social, and he’s crazy about Mum. They met through mutual friends and really hit it off. The thing is — Mum’s never had anyone really be crazy about her, as opposed to being crazy about owning her.
My Dad was a lot of things, hero, pilot, soldier, cat lady — he was also a sexist asshole and a cheater. Mum and I put up with a lot of shit from him during my childhood for not being “real people”— ie male. (I fixed that) Lots of emotional abuse and bullshit for a long time. And even after his stroke he was still an asshole, and Mum visited him everyday, putting up with it because that’s what she thought you did for love.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved my Dad, but he was an asshole and did a lot of damage. Not just to Mum and I, my brother is a contrarian asshole redneck who is in prison for having a video of an underage girl having sex. He’s not learned a damn thing while he’s been in there, and had 6 more years to go.
RayRay is totally different from my Dad. He’s quiet, he’s gentle, and he’s crazy about Mum. He likes her for who she is, they have interests in common, and they are always joking and laughing. Mum never had that before and she’s really into it. He doesn’t give orders, he doesn’t demand things, he’s just getting to know Mum and I think it’s really awesome. Mum deserves a real romance not high school obsession.
So yeah. Mum’s got a boyfriend and I am all about that.