Actually, it’s just a secret from my MIL. Normally, she’s a smart, reasonable person, but in this case, we need to shield her.
Spousal unit is scheduled for yet another spinal surgery in late April. We decided we wouldn’t tell his folks till a couple of weeks before. First of all, they’re elderly (90 & 88) with a lot of their own health issues. But mostly, because his mother would drive us (and herself) crazy with her worries.
Allow me to illustrate.
The first time she bought a state lottery ticket on a multi-million dollar jackpot, she was deeply concerned that if she won, kidnappers would snatch my daughter and hold her for ransom to get the winnings. :eek: This wasn’t just a passing thought - she was really afraid and I’m sure she worked out several contingencies. Luckily, the most she ever won was about $75, so my kid was safe…
Another time, said daughter was on a short cruise to the Bahamas and Key West. There was a hurricane brewing just off the coast of South America. MIL called us to see if we could reach our daughter and have her tell the captain of the ship about the storm that was well over 1000 miles away. :eek:
So that’s why we’re keeping his folks in the dark till Easter or thereabouts. Better for their mental health and ours. So if you run into them, mum’s the word!!! SHHHHHHHH!
Among other reasons, they know he has back problems and they are concerned. They often ask how he’s doing and if he’s seen a doctor about it.
I can’t imagine why he’d not tell them eventually - it’s not as if the surgery is illegal or immoral. But they don’t need 2 months of stressing about him on top of their own health issues.
My lips are sealed! We have similar concerns re my mother, 87, and my sister in law, 50:eek: both of whom picture themselves as deeply caring and sensitive while they run around pushing random panic buttons over nothing. They then are deeply hurt to be the last to be told things: health matters, leprosy outbreaks in lands far away, sad dog stories, happy dog stories, global warming. Anything serves to give them an adrenaline dump they want everyone to enjoy. It can be exhausting. Both seem to exhibit symptoms of ADHD, but distracting them doesn’t work as they have a whim of iron and are happy to crank up the emotions over…SQUIRREL! as well as corona virus. So I’ll keep your secret! Best wishes for the surgery, too.
I promise to tell not a soul. I’m not on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, IRC, Usenet, none of those, so you can trust me. No bribes required. Well, maybe a good word to the warden…
SO many things I don’t mention to mom because she’ll overreact to… well, anything.
If she says I sound tired on the phone and I admit that I didn’t get enough sleep the night before, I’ve got to be prepared for a pained "Ohhhh, NOOOO…" AND a twelve-minute lecture on turning off your computer at 9 pm, a study she thinks she might have read in Readers’ Digest on tryptophan, and did I know that the My Pillow man (a Decent Christian Human Being) sells sheets that’ll help me sleep because they’re made from Egyptian cotton.
As soon as I extricate myself from the phone, she’s still on task, clipping newspaper articles from weeks ago (on topics like keeping your bedroom cool). And alarming my sister until she calls and asks why I’m not sleeping. Well, actually, sis, I stayed up late last night by choice. Sarah Silverman was on Colbert, Seth Myers had Andy Richter, and then I checked out the first pics of the upcoming BMW i4… it’ll have a ultra-wide curved screen!
We get that from some of our relatives. Every time there’s flooding or forest fires in southern Switzerland we get concerned questions.
There’s a rather large mountain range between us. Maybe the forest fires might reach here, but it’s rather unlikely. And the flooding? Water doesn’t climb well.
OMG - yeah, weather! They live in Florida, and any time any extreme weather is mentioned in the northeast, we can expect a call. They know we live near Virginia, so if Norfolk is being battered…
I’m just glad we weren’t living here during the DC Sniper days - she’d have lost her mind!