visitors

It's kind of a shame how seldom we get visitors here. After all, we do live in a very beautiful place. I suspect the main reason we so seldom have visitors is because I'm ashamed of the condition of our house. We started renovating it as soon as we moved in (1998), but there was so much work to be done that we've lost steam since our daughter was born (2002). In retrospect, we should have taken the hint when the bank said they could recommend a good demolition firm. So here we are in our disaster of a half-renovated house.

My husband is the oldest of three brothers. (They have an older sister, but she wants nothing to do with them.) The brother who lives in Boston arrived yesterday, and the youngest brother, who lives in Denver, will arrive this evening. I really like them both and enjoy their company. They're here for their grandmother's funeral on Monday. It's a shame that Boston's wife and kids couldn't come too, but it's a very short visit for him, and flying at peak season costs a fortune. They'll save some money by sleeping in our living room.

I've heard that Sister will also be attending the funeral, and she's staying with her mom. She does not speak to any of her brothers, nor does she wish to be spoken about to them, so that's all we know. We haven't seen her in 7 years. She came to see our daughter shortly after she was born (we had a big party instead of a baptism). While she was here, she had some difficulty with her online bill paying, so my husband paid $300 worth of bills for her. He did this somewhat reluctantly because it had been his grandfather's dying wish that he not loan her any more money (she'd been quite a black hole for borrowed funds from the entire family). When my husband asked her to pay him back, she got mad and stopped talking to him.

Boston has been on her shit list for a long time. I believe that's because he's the only one of the siblings who maintains any contact with their father. He and his family came to visit us when we were in San Diego. They drove all the way up to LA with their baby to deliver something to her, and she refused to see them. They had to wait in the parking lot. Denver probably maintained contact with her the longest, but she eventually shunned him too. I believe that was because he kept in touch with his brothers.

It will be interesting to see what happens at the funeral when we all have to be in the same room.