Retaliating

The stepmonster strikes again. The mystery of the missing tribute has been solved. She took it.

My dad called this weekend, while she was away, and with some regret in his voice, told me that he had just found my tribute among HER things, and had just read it. "I loved it," he said. "Thank you."

He went on to try and explain her crazy behavior: "She has some issues, some deep seeded issues with you and your sister. I can't explain them."

Well, duh! She's had some issues since the minister pronounced her wife to my dad and she suddenly inherited two stepdaughters who wanted nothing more than to love her and to accept her (which we did, quite well, I might add). She, meanwhile, saw us as threats to her beloved husband, became insanely jealous and began a horrible cycle of triangulating, which works like this:

1. She talks to me about my sister.
2. She talks to my sister about me.
3. She talks to my dad about BOTH of us (not kindly)

I think she's at her happiest when there is more drama unfolding than what you'd find on any given episode of "Days of our Lives."

As for me, I'm glad that my dad broke his silence and circled back around. He also expressed some disappointment over not having opportunities to do regular family stuff with us, like impromptu family dinners and weekend BBQs.

I, in turn, feel sad about that too. But I can only make so many trips to see him. He's never even seen my remodeled yoga studio and the last celebration that he attended here was for Ben's first birthday.

At any rate, my heart is a little bit lighter, not quite as heavy as it was in August. I'll probably never know unconditional love from my dad and I've already written off that possibility with his wife but I'll take the little bits and pieces he throws my way. And I'll be grateful for those, however small they may be.