Family..

So.. my mom called this morning. She lives in another city. My husband answered the phone and made a face when he was handing me the phone. I was like.. okaayy. I started talking to her, and she sounded to strange. She was eerie and calm.. really subdued. I was instantly worried. She proceeded to tell me she had some bad news.. her sister passed away. She said she didn't feel sad really.. she didn't know what to feel. I personally think she mourned and grieved for her sister a long time ago.

People that know me probably aren't even aware that my mother had a sister and has a brother. They are not close.. never have been. In recent years, my mom hadn't spoken to her sister.. probably in the last 10 years. She hasn't spoken to her brother in 5 years or more, since my grandfather passed away. He was the one who called her to tell her about her sister. She told him that they really only talk when somone dies.. he said that they should stop that. There is a whole history behind all of this.. but it involves everyone in the family being drinkers and the drinking exacerbating everything.

I don't really have any family of my own that I am close to. I am close to everyone in John's family.. and I don't like that I really don't have my "own family" to be close with.

It has me thinking thinking a lot today about possibly getting together with my uncle. Would my mom be mad about it? Should I let her problems carry over to me? I don't want to offend her.. but I feel like I want to make an effort too. Really though, will these people enrich my life at all? I guess I won't know if I don't try. A dilemma.