Meet the Parent
For everyone who knows my situation at all, my mother has been a huge obstacle in my relationship with my FC. She has not approved it from day one, because of three reasons: Age, Marital Status, Kids. It's not even my FC she has a problem with, just plainly her social status. At any rate, today was a day that we dreaded, all of us. And now, at the end of the day, I have to say that things didn't go completely smoothly, but it didn't go too badly either.
It has just been so weird because my mother's been avoiding today forever, and FC actually dreams about this day a lot. There has been so much tension between two people who've never met, and I've kinda not fancied the thought of playing moderator today, even though I didn't really moderate much anyway. I'm not one to cause waves, I'm more of the one who persuades them. Asks for them to splash about politely.
Even the car trip down was slightly tension filled, because FC and I were slightly short with each other, from all the nerves being on edge. When we met with my mom, she was cordial, friendly, though not "Hey, you're marrying my son! Gimme a hug!" friendly. The whole day consisted of a lot of silence, some Cantonese, and some weird comments passed on by my mother to FC when I wasn't around. I had to go to the bathroom a couple times, and she said a few things to FC that seemed... It wasn't hostile, or mean, or threatening, it was more along the lines of cautionary. Protective. Still kinda weird, but FC played it well. She remained polite, and maintained a certain air of neutrality in tone, giving the impression that perhaps it was noted, but not much else. I dunno, I felt bad for both of them, and still managed to feel a little self-pity for myself, being stuck in the middle of an awkward scenario.
What did surprise me though, was that my mom had a few surprises up her sleeve. She gave FC a bracelet, and said, "Welcome to the family." and gave us both a card, congratulating us on getting married. She also wrote us a check for some money, which we intend to buy some baby stuff that says, "Grandma is #1" and the like. So, all we have to do now is to take that positive note, and know that it's good for life. She may have said a few weird things to FC, but overall, it was really great of my Mom to take the first step to acceptance of FC.
She is still undecided on whether or not to attend a ceremony if we were to hold it here, but we'll see what happens. All and all, it has been a really eventful day full of progress and hope.
Stupid phrase of the day: I coined it after FC said that the bracelet was nice. Thankfully, nobody heard me, but unfortunately, I will repeat it in the blog.
Me: "Wow, with the ring and the necklace and now the braclet, you went from no jewelry to bling bling.
Somewhere, Carson Daly gets a residual check.
