December 24th, 2003

Finally met my husband’s family today. Ever since we moved here from Pusan after Grayson was born I’d wondered about his reluctance to introduce me, even today he seemed reluctant about it. I didn’t understand it! What could be so wrong with them? Ha! One insane day later and I now understand what he was afraid of.

It started normal enough, I was introduced to Bryce’s siblings. Catherine I already knew, she lived not far from us and helped watch the kids occasionally. Turns out she’s the one of the only sane ones of the bunch!

First I met Ricky, the oldest brother, and his wife Grace and two sons, Bailey and Tyler. They were all nice, perfectly polite, but damn if they didn’t all seem like they came straight out of the Florida swamp or something. I don’t think Ricky ever joined in any conversation that wasn’t hunting related, and Tyler was practically nursing Mountain Dew the entire time. Bailey I couldn’t quite figure out… he didn’t really say much of anything the whole time. Standard 13-year old angst or something else? I dread when my kids get to that age. I had a nice conversation with Grace though, and she told me a lot of childhood stories Bryce wold have no doubt been too embarrassed to say.

Bryce’s younger brother, Kevin, was the polar opposite of Ricky, and honestly way worse. Kevin openly wanted nothing to do with the rest of the family and was perfectly content making his discontent known in front of everyone. He also seemed to think very highly of himself, obviously assuming he was the smartest person in the room. When I was telling his wife, Holly (who was nice enough, but a bit cold), about growing up in Pusan, he kept interrupting me with unrelated facts or “correcting” me whenever he thought I said something wrong. Even if he was wrong and I corrected him, he still acted like he was in the right. Smug bastard, I could have punched him. He has two kids, Kinsey and Christian, both almost teenagers and both well behaved, at least while their parents were watching. Christian especially showed a much lighter side when it was just him, the other kids and me, telling jokes and laughing. Even when his father’s back was turned he’d smile knowingly when Kevin went on some pretentious tangent, even winking at me once.

Finally we have Bryce’s mom and dad. The mom was very warm and nice, she’s the other sane one. George Blackwell on the other hand… the father, was easily the most eclectic of the bunch. The came out of his study exactly three times, and each was even more dramatic than the last. First he came out about an hour after we got there. I’d expected he was going to join us, but all he did was walk in the room, look at us without saying anything, and then go back into his study. The second time was when it was time to eat. He again said nothing for the longest time, merely grabbing a large amount of turkey and dressing and nothing else. He sat silently at the table eating until he decided to interrupt one of Kevin’s political monologues by refuting every point he made and calling him stupid. Later he made an odd, creepy “joke” asking Bryce how much he had paid for me in Korea. After eating he returned to his study, leaving his plate on the table. Finally towards the end of the visit he came out to argue with Kevin again, this time over inheritance. I watched the two men argue pettily for almost an hour before George Blackwell stormed back to the study for the final time, declaring as he did that he was leaving none of his considerable wealth to his children. He was practically a soap opera character.

Bryce apologized when we got home, profusely, but if anything he was the one more upset by it all. Catherine was obviously used to the whole thing, laughing it off, and I merely took in the pure dysfunction of all, but Bryce definitely seemed to be ruminating on some memories he didn’t mention, especially whenever his father came into the picture. I couldn’t even imagine being raised by a man like him. He was the complete opposite of my father, wealthy, yet seemingly indifferent to everyone around him. What does a person like that get out of life? I suppose this was something I’d never understand.