Enough is enough.

So it's not enough that my family is all crazy and dramatic. It's not enough that they have to be overbearing, pushy, arrogant, offended, offensive, standoffish and holier-than-thou. It's not enough that I've tried my best to have nothing to do with them for many years and they, for once, agreed this was the best course of action.

Now they've invaded my dreams.

Which might not be so bad, if they were normal in my dreams. Predictable. Traditional, if you will.

No! Norman has to be nice. He's the one to whom most of the terms above apply. And Jim... well, Jim's always been weird. But now he shows up looking like other people. And that's just too weird, even for him.

But the fact that they visit me at all is completely uncalled for. We had this unspoken understanding that we'd hate each other from afar and leave each other alone.

And after my grandmother died - on my birthday no less, and Norman & Jim literally brawled in her house they day she passed, and no one bothered to tell us for over 24 hours, and no one ever told us when the funeral was or where she's buried or if she was cremated & scattered somewhere.... I thought we were finally quit of them.

But now they invade my dreams. Norman tried to connect, even though the rest of his family did their darnedest to remind me I was pond scum. And Jim seemed to need help, instead of just mooching, for a change. I'm left wondering what's going on.

For me, this is especially strange. Before my grandmother died, we kept hearing news of her condition (she's in the hospital again; she's in transitional care; she's in a nursing home - which we all know is pretty much the no-recovery point). I kept feeling it was a sign to make contact again, although I don't know now what I would have said; there were years of silence to make up for. With what? There was nothing to say, really. And nothing but bad feelings between my mom and her brothers.

And then she was gone and that chance with her.

When my grandmother died, and the brothers fought, it was years of hatred pouring out, since there was nothing to hold them back anymore. And Norman, I think, feels he's the only one who's lost anything. Jim was the one who called & said she was dead, and then drifted back into the mists.

But now the dreams. Another sign? Or am I just thinking too much of people I want nothing to do with, because of everything that's happened lately? They certainly want nothing to do with me.

I wish they'd go back to leaving me alone. I wouldn't pick them or their kids as friends - they're too self-important for my tastes. And after all, I prefer it when things are all about me. I even have a fridge magnet that says so, so you know it must be true!

If you hear from them, please tell them for me. Enough is enough. I want no more of it. I'm done.