Present: me, my dad's wife, Sali the greyhound, and a few lemon drops.
Us: [A nice laughter-filled lemon-drop-fueled chat.]
Her, apropos of nothing: So ... would you like to talk about what happened last January?
Me: Oh. No, not really, no.
Her: Okay. Just so you know that I'm here if you wanted to tell me about it.
Me: Well, sounds like you know anyway.
Her: Yes ... well, I know that you were pregnant.
Me: Yep.
Us: [A whole lot of awkward silence.]
Her: One day you'll be pregnant again.
Me: [Shrug.] Yep, I guess.
Us: [Another whole lot of awkward silence.]
Me: Sali! Sali! Come here.
Me: [Long fuss over Sali.]
Me: Uhhh ... can I have another lemon drop?
***
Scene: different day, same patio.
Present: family members galore.
Me: [Recounting hilarious antics that Gilles and I get up to with our cat, who we are "training" to hunt kitty treats hidden in hard-to-reach places, and extolling his intelligence, skill, cuteness, and all-around feline perfection.]
Everybody except one: [Laughter and general agreement that said kitty is indeed intelligent, skillful, cute, and all-around felinely perfect.]
The "except one": Elizabeth. I really think it's time you had ...
Me: If the next words are "a baby" I'm going to scream and scream and scream and then I will get up and walk out of here and never, ever, EVER come back.
The "except one": ... a job.
Me: Oh, I've got one. Cat trainer?
***
Scene: different different day, same patio.
Present: even more family members galore.
My mom, who is fiddling with her camera: Elizabeth, what does AF mean?
Me: [Amazed stare and puzzled wonderment.]
My dad: That's the autofocus.
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| borrowed ethically from source |
Can I just say that I really love your blog?! Your writing style is great and your posts are always so interesting.
ReplyDeleteYour Dad's wife sounds like my husband's Dad's wife. Always the most awkward of conversations. Glad I am not the only one dealing with that!
Ah, shucks. There is always next time. So they say. And, I think cat trainer is an exceedingly prestigious profession, FYI.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at the story about your mom. My mind went immediately to the other AF, even though you just said she was fiddling with her camera :)
ReplyDeleteBest post ever! It is amazing how differently you see the world form an infertile's eyes. I do feel like the infertile's super power is the ability to make others say the dumbest most awkward things.
ReplyDeleteMy Step-mother tries to sympathise with our predicament. (She married her first husband because she got knocked up I don't think she has ever dealt with infertility). After my miscarriage she asked me how i felt, and then quickly caveated it with "I mean physically, I know hoe you feel emotionally."
ReplyDeleteI seriously doubt she does .... oh well, at least she tries.
This is a great post. So true about where your brain goes when your whole life seems to revolve around IF some days.
ReplyDelete(readingeachpage.blogspot.com)
Curse you infertility and your ability to make human interactions so flipping awkward!
ReplyDeleteVery well written post, though. You describe your jumble of emotions so well.
And this (see above)... is what infertility does to an otherwise healthy adult female.
ReplyDeleteLove this post...My jaw dropped when I read that your Mom asked what AF meant. Ah, the life of an infertile and all the acronyms that go with it.
ReplyDeletegreat post! :-)
ReplyDeleteAutufocus. I die.
ReplyDeleteAnd FYI, lemon drops are my favvvvvorite.
The last one makes me laugh so hard!
ReplyDeleteAutofocus. Bahahaha.
ReplyDeleteOh hun, a patio of many emotions.
ReplyDeleteI guess that's sweet of your step mother, trying to show she is there for you? I would have totally clammed up too, talk about awkward. Conversations like that have to come from the person. My ma is forever trying to get me to 'really talk' to her about my IF. And I just seize up.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog. I have family members like this too... you want to slap them and ask if they have any sense? Mine like to have incredibly private coonversations in front of complete strangers. I love the AF reference. Infertility seems to change you... to the core.... seriously, I feel like my DNA is different after living through all of this, like I will never be the same again.
ReplyDeleteBwahahahaa! that is all.
ReplyDelete