You just can't choose family....

Here's the background:

Baldman's grandma is turning 87 this year, and her health is declining more rapidly. Since no one on his side put together the reunion they wanted to do, Supergrammy and I put our heads together and are planning a huge birthday party for her so people can see her and she can watch the kids play, etc. One of the things she doesn't like is alcohol. Since half of the people coming are under drinking age, and all but four people who are of age don't drink either, we put a general ban on all alcohol, to keep it away from the teens and the babies and to keep Grandma happy.

You would have thought World War III was starting. One of Baldman's cousin is trying to start a whole theological debate about it, saying that the bible that grandma believes in allows alcohol, and that Jesus Christ drank, so it should be allowed.

For those who know me, when people try to throw "facts" or opinions at me, what do I do? That's right, I research. I hit the scholarly websites and cited passages from the bible going against drinking, the science of alcohol in biblical times and brought up the reasons it was banned in general from the party. I seriously wanted to belt the woman. I almost went super mean and said "don't provoke the researcher; she'll blow your mind away"....but I behaved. I stuck with facts and left it alone. I almost cancelled the whole thing because I'm not putting up with bullshit, but because of who it is for and what it is for, I'm keeping it on. The family deserves a happy memory with grandma one last time before she passes on, and I think that day is going to be coming soon.

The Cousin's trying to start more shit. But you know what? Baldman and Supergrammy are paying for all the food and decorations, I'm doing all the cooking, and her own sister said no alcohol because it's at her home and she wants to respect grandma's wishes. If she wants to pull this shit, she can come by, say hello to those who she rarely sees, and leave. If it's so important for her and her psycho parents to drink at the party, they can just not bother to show up. If it were an adults only party and her family were responsible drinkers, alcohol would be fine. But her dad is a violent, angry drinker, and her husband/boyfriend/domestic partner is even worse and was already banned from the party. Why expose grandma and the kids (very impressionable kids, I might add) to that toxicity?

Grandma was one of the first people who welcomed me into this family with open arms, and accepted my brother like her own grandson. He's even coming to the party to see her and give her a hug because he respects her so much. This cousin just couldn't be bothered with talking to us more than once a year since we moved up here until her sister moved here and her sister and I became friends.

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. I'll be repeating that to myself a lot on Friday. Well, that, and "two to the chest, one to the head" when dealing with the psycho crazy zealots......