... My current dilemma. This week I got in the mail two birthday cards from non-JW aunt and grandma who are apparently delighted that there's a niece and granddaughter out there to whom they can send birthday cards.
Also got an invite to my cousins wedding. This is in Perth, a six-hour flight away. We were only just there and only intend to go once a year, and only for as long as my grands are still with us. Here are my reasons to:
GO:
- these are the only family I have left, I want to make a big deal about them at every opportunity I get
- I do like to spend time with my grands
- last opportunity to see any JW siblings and their children before somebodys funeral (it will be the last wedding in the family I'll ever get an invite to) and so it's the only real chance I'll ever have to get through to them. Not that I care very much any more.
- I do kind of like the idea of beating the JWs at their whitewash game. They've pretended to the rest of the family that it's me who rejected them. They'll find that argument hard to defend if they won't even eat a meal in the same backyard as me.
DON'T GO:
- JW family will be there - it will be awkward at best, and very stressful and depressing at worst
- The groom (my cousin) knows a bit of the story and he might pick up on the deadly vibe I'll be getting from them, or he might not. His bride will have just delivered their second baby weeks prior and they'll have a houseful of drunks (the reception will be the old bogan pissup in the backyard (the brides words))
- it's only a few weeks before exams and it's already a horrid term
- sending them the cost of our airfare will probably double their annual income
- the best reasons I have to go aren't really the reasons you go to a wedding - to wish the couple every happiness. I think I'll only be bringing a big awkward baby elephant that everybody has to ignore.
Thoughts? Opinoins?