A little ticked....

[mbhandy]

You guys look great. I don't see how any one would have a neg. comment about your attire.
The only remark you might have gotten is "Where are your Pipes?"

MrBill

[cessna152towser]

CelticCowboy you are so fortunate having a loving wife and son and the three of you look so happy and so smartly dressed in the photo you posted. Your mother ought to be really proud that you have in the past put your life on the line working in law enforcement and that currently you are doing something which allows you more time to devote to your lovely family and to give that family better security. Thats far more precious than living in a big house.
Sathor I can't really comprehend what your mother is getting at. Reading her e-mail she comes over to me as confused but then I've never met the lady so it would be unkind for me to form such a judgement.

[sathor]

Sathor I can't really comprehend what your mother is getting at. Reading her e-mail she comes over to me as confused but then I've never met the lady so it would be unkind for me to form such a judgement.

I did manage to decode part as telling me it's ok to wear a kilt in Dayton or Cincinnati, but not where it can harm my family. Perhaps there is a demon or something that hides near the border that rips kilts off and uses them to towel whip people, but I haven't seen that demon yet.

[Spartan]

Celtic Cowboy & Sathor: My heart goes out to both of you. As I recall, the commandment to honor your mother and father, in its origin, had to do with protecting them in their old age. That is in a society in which the weak are put aside. (Sometimes the elderly are still treated that way.) It doesn't mean as adults to allow your parents to control you or use you as a doormat. As parents, our responsibility is to raise our children to be responsible adults with the tools they need to be successful in adult life. Once grown, it's up to them to live their lives. As parents of adult children, we learn the art of keeping some of our thoughts to ourselves.

Celtic Cowboy: Thank you for your service as a paramedic and police officer. I believe the wages you received are shocking! As a one-time police chaplain, I have the highest regard for those who serve us as EMT's, police officers, fire fighters, etc. I hope that you get back into the field that you love. Your mother should be proud.

There are certainly advantages and disadvantages of living close to parents. This is a downside.

BTW, I grew up in Michigan. We're pretty good people. (My parents retired near Ann Arbor in Saline.)

[Jack Daw]

Good for you, CC, for sticking to your guns.

[CDNSushi]

I've been following this thread since the beginning, and what's really interesting is this crazy, ludicrous emotional roller-coaster ride that some parents seem to thrive on. I just had to "clip n' save" some of the excerpts from Celtic Cowboy's mother's e-mail as well as sathor's mother's mail, because my wife's mother sends the same crap -- just about verbatim! I'm serious, if someone showed me the following snippets and didn't tell me that they weren't from my mother-in-law, I'd wouldn't believe it!

Celtic Cowboy's mother:

I was very disappointed and hurt that...

...showed a lack of respect and caring for me...

...too much for me to deal with...

...you ask that we respect you and yet even for one day you chose not to respect how I felt...

Sathor's mother:

...I am pouring my soul out to you please stop and think about what you are doing...

...I love you but you have some issues you need to resolve...

...not being so hateful...

The resemblance is just uncanny!!! The only difference with my wife's family, is that they say these things not about kilt-wearing, but just about us and our lives in general. Here's an excerpt of my own (received 2 wks ago from the m.i.l.):

...I know I try very hard and I know dad and *(wife's sister)* both feel I try. They also feel Iam the scapegoat and that I take the most flak.

I just wish you would be nice to me...

Its a teribble thing to a mother to not be wanted.

The tone I hear when you speak or as in this letter is painful too. I don't find it very kindly written and you need to try and not be so condesending. Iam nearly crying again. you are so HARD.

And that's the way it goes. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year. You'd think we were the worst offspring in the world by reading this stuff. My wife is often at her wit's end with this crap too. She often tells me, "How can I get adopted into another family?" I chuckle when she says it, but she's often told me, "No, I'm serious! If I could get adopted into another family -- I would! You think I could put an ad in the paper for a new mother?"

So, take heart Celtic Cowboy & Sathor -- you're not alone! We have our share of family weirdness too. I don't even want to think about the e-mails we'd start getting if the wife's family knew I walked around kilted.

[sathor]

Ha! My mom would never use the word flak. I have other odd emails from her, the funny thing is she emails me about something where she is angry, then 5 minutes later sends me something she needs printed out. (She also CC's the emails to my sister and my grandparents in SC (not her parents, mind you, and they like kilts!)

I've been following this thread since the beginning, and what's really interesting is this crazy, ludicrous emotional roller-coaster ride that some parents seem to thrive on. I just had to "clip n' save" some of the excerpts from Celtic Cowboy's mother's e-mail as well as sathor's mother's mail, because my wife's mother sends the same crap -- just about verbatim! I'm serious, if someone showed me the following snippets and didn't tell me that they weren't from my mother-in-law, I'd wouldn't believe it!
The resemblance is just uncanny!!! The only difference with my wife's family, is that they say these things not about kilt-wearing, but just about us and our lives in general. Here's an excerpt of my own (received 2 wks ago from the m.i.l.):

[Nighthawk]

The more I read about other people's families, the more I love my own. You folks make me sad for you, but you help me to appreciate the great family that I have- both the blood reletives and the in-laws.

[Bugbear]

The more I read about other people's families, the more I love my own. You folks make me sad for you, but you help me to appreciate the great family that I have- both the blood reletives and the in-laws.

Yes, Nighthawk, you should be very thankful you get along all right with most of your family.

[McFarkus]

CC - you and your family look amazing in the photos. I think you did an excellent thing:

You honored your family by showing up for Thanksgiving dinner knowing the kind of reaction you were likely to receive; at the same time, you honored yourself by going kilted. Kudos!