It’s always so pleasant and happy when Chris’s parents are in town because they see the best of everything and in everyone. Sometimes, I just can’t believe how genuinely happy they are as human beings. I think we’d all benefit from their positive outlook on life and on people’s intentions. They’re not naive in their positive attitude and see that there are terrible people in the world (unfortunately, they didn’t catch on to the fact that most of my cousins and dad’s sister is in this group), but they don’t dwell on it and move on quickly. It’s no wonder Chris ignores all the idiots in the world and focuses on people he cares about. He gets this positive influence from his parents.

I’ve been working really hard over the last few years to not dwell on things people do that annoy or upset me, but old habits die hard, especially when you’ve basically been trained to be negative and distrust everyone and anyone by your own parents. I’m not necessarily blaming them, but I think it’s pretty obvious that how we were raised has a serious impact on what we end up becoming as adults. It’s a constant struggle, but I am getting much better at not dwelling, moving on, and dismissing idiocy.

To make a comparison: the wedding was almost two weeks ago now, and his parents are still glowing about everything from the floral arrangements to the venue’s architecture to the view at the ceremony of the Pacific Ocean. They are all smiles about the wedding the way you’d expect two normal parents to be when their child has just gotten married. While that is happening here in my apartment, my mom in San Francisco is talking to me four times a week to yell at me about the right and wrong way to send thank you cards based on what gifts were given, to get angry about people she thinks were cheap or didn’t proactively greet her at the wedding, and to give me all these warnings about how to live life (in the form of thank you cards and future gift giving, of course) and how I better still obey her because she has so much wisdom. When I tell her that none of this matters and that she needs to stop thinking about all this negative stuff, she screams, “YOU LISTEN TO ME AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH! I’m TRYING TO TEACH YOU AND ALL YOU EVER DO IS ARGUE WITH ME EVERY TIME WE TALK ON THE PHONE!”

Two different families. Two different outlooks.