Like It Never Happened

I called T and the first thing she said was 'Air Witch is coming.' So I didn't have to ask. The next day, I texted T. Air Witch knows I'm coming, right? Because it occurred to me the only reason she was showing up was because she thought it was strictly a family gathering. T promised to tell her right then, which lead me to think T was setting up one of her famous situations were everyone is forced to faced each other whether they want to or not.

I dreaded the dinner all day Thursday. I wasn't sure if I should go or not. Finally, Kurt came home so I headed out. I called T as soon as I left my driveway. Her cousin William answered. I told him I was on my way and estimated when I would arrive. He announced this information to the room so I assumed if Air Witch was already there, she'd have plenty of time to leave, and if she hadn't arrived yet, then as soon as she entered the house someone would say I had just called.

It was a really long drive for me. I left Tallapoosa County, drove through the Cow College on the Plains, cross into Macon County, back into Lee County, then into Russel County and I'm still not quite there. Along the way, I resolved to be the better person and if I couldn't hold my tongue, I could leave.

There were LOTS of people. Several family members, significant others, and a couple of family friends. T was very glad to see me, but as there were so many people present, she couldn't just stay by my side. She flitted around like a butterfly and that's fine, it's just I had nothing to do my sip my drink.

Air Witch said hi like we had spoken a few days ago. I just nodded. I thought she was going to be polite and move on, which is what I would have done, but no, she asked what I had been up to.

I really had no answer. Well, I did, I had a dozen snarky comments, but I had resolved to be the better person. I didn't know how to pack a year's worth of activity into a short answer. And anyway, she cut me off so I must assume didn't really want to know or she would have played a more active part in my life during the past year. I told her 'the usual' and left it at that.

A few times, Air Witch tried drawing me into the group conversation and once she really put me on the spot. I don't know if she did it deliberately or not. T was showing pictures of a trip she took with a friend. They wanted to go to a theme park, but it closed so they went to all the wineries instead. Her cousin started teasing T, reminding her that your not actually supposed to drink the wine, it should be spit out. T said she did except for the few she really liked. Nobody in that family really likes wine. I do. I grew up on a farm with a vineyard. Air Witch promptly jumped into the conversation. 'Free loves wine!'

Everybody turned to stare at me. I guess I was supposed to utter some great witticism. But I don't drink wine now because it's full of carbs. I was sort of stuck because I didn't want to draw attention to the fact that I have diabetes, and since I can't drink wine anyway, there was no need to mention how many bottles my father makes each fall. And it pissed me off because I wasn't in the conversation and neither was Air Witch. She didn't have to jump in. She certainly didn't have to make me the center of attention. I changed the subject and the next time she tried that shit I was a little better at dodging.

After Air Witch left, T told me about the fight with the middle sister. Like the argument with me, it was basically about nothing; just something Air Witch blew out of proportion. I told T about my theory of Air Witch pushing everyone out of her life because she was dealing with some personal tragedy that embarrassed her. T agreed with me, but as she had been pushed away too, she didn't know what was going on either.

Before I left, I called Kurt to tell him to add T to his friends list on Facebook. She emailed me pictures taken of us at the party. Overall, I am glad I went, but I wish Air Witch hadn't been there. Her pretending like nothing happened makes me thinks she believes my feelings are unimportant.