And Now for Something Completely Different

The scene is familiar.

Estelle lives far enough away that she can not simply hop into her car, careen over hill and dale ignoring all customary driving conventions, to barge into your home and tell you exactly what it is you are going to do.

But she'd like to do that. Only she is prevented by our friends Virginia, DC, Maryland and Delaware. Thank God for the colonies.

So instead, she wields a big stick from afar...and takes an overly aggressive position simply because she knows she can not control what happens here, and though she should not be able to influence or exert any authority over her grown children, she can not quite give up on that. So perhaps threatening and persecution will work. Give it a try!

So upon hearing the details of the latest travesty, instead of focusing on the breach of trust committed by my brother, zooms well past that, and goes to the end game...where she knows and fears all this storytelling is leading.

Now normally, she'd turn into Grendel's mother and lash out indiscriminately hoping to hang a claw on some sensitive nerve, putting her opponent on her heels so she doesn't get all cocky and full of her own self righteousness and make some brazen proclamation about severing all ties with the Flying Circus under my brother's Big Top. Before you go and get all holier-than-thou, let's point out a few flaws of your own you might have forgotten about!

A little humility can be very disarming in an argument. Mom has a black belt in this war tactic. And let me tell you, it is always such a pleasure to relive all the missteps in your life - as though you were at the pearly gates debating your worthiness for admission. Sorry about that time I said "shit" in church when I unexpectedly ran into my prom date and looked like a hag!

But today, Estelle does something new.

She cries.