Happy Birthday to me. I'm 26 today.
My mother has been in town visiting all week, which has been a nice change of pace. I don't get out of the house very much anymore, so anything that pushes me out the door is a good thing. We took the architecture boat tour here, and I ended up knowing a lot more about the buildings downtown than I thought I did. I suppose I have gathered a bit of knowledge about this place than I thought I had.
Being around my mother brings forward many issues that I don't think very much about anymore. My mother has a passive aggressive way of describing my childhood, which I have ignored for years. How I had such a miserable childhood because I was the middle child. How she never paid me any attention. I don't fight with her about it because she wouldn't be able to see things from my point of view. I will not bring up her 20-year nervous breakdown. I do not tear down her limited, sheltered perspective of the world. These things, while not quite water under the bridge, are beyond discussion. I spent too many years getting to the point where I could talk to her again to throw it all away in one misguided conversation.
Besides these few months of tension, things have been good. It is interesting to see my mother traveling without my father, as they are usually inseparable for one reason or another. We have taken her out for food that my father simply would not abide, and taken her places where my father would have been completely bored. Today has been very low key so far, because I have run out of things that I want to do. Tomorrow, I'll take her out to Oak Park and take in some Wright homes.
I've had better years, all things considered: surgeries, getting fired, all that crap. I'm very much looking forward to the next one, as things are looking up. This time next year should see things squared away for the move back home. There's a lot to look forward to.