For those who follow me on FB, or I speak to on a regular basis, you will have noticed my inept panic at the prospect of having people over for a fancy meal on Christmas. I thought I'd post an update, since Christmas is now properly over.
Overall it went well, everyone seemed to have a good time. The food was utterly demolished by the end of it, as was the rather excessive (according to my mother) wine supply.
Family gatherings are a time for catching up and of course gossip. Especially this gathering had a lot of that, mainly because it was the first time my mother and my nephew met. My (half)sister and my mother haven't been in touch for over 20 years. Therefore it was also the first time my mother and my (half) brother-in-law met but there wasn't much conversation there. Partially because they didn't understand a word the other said.
In any case, I've always been aware that my family, whether from mom's or dad's side, are a bit challenging and nutty. I know everyone says this about their own family, but I'm serious.
To add to the bizarre nature of the situation, we had the opportunity to drag up much told crazy stories and proudly demonstrate our combined insanity in front of two outsiders, friends my sister dragged along.
...
After putting my nephew in charge of wines - after all, he's the snob who wouldn't let me buy them in Aldi and insisted on picking out quality bottles himself with his 40% wine shop staff discount - I only had to take care of the food. The Christmas Goose was a great success and people ate with abandon.
It was a mixed bunch, a mash-up of cultural backgrounds and nationalities (and varying English skills). Funnily the only Englishman at the table was my nephew, who got plenty of shit for that from the rest of us. But that's OK, he can take it. This was exactly the point where I was thankful for not inviting the next door neighbour as well, as this would have become very awkward very quickly.
Out of the 8 people that somehow managed to squeeze themselves around our 6 person dinner table (two on each head), it was mainly my mom, sis and nephew doing most of the talking.
Upon having cleared some empty dishes I come back to the following exchange.
"Oh but your dad left that gun in my wardrobe!" says mom.
"Really?!" sis asks, before waving to her friend in a sort of *nudge nudge, wink wink* this story will be awesome kind of fashion. "Please do tell me what happened!"
I sit down at the table, while my nephew just looks at me with a raised eyebrow. The story of the gun is well known in our family; an AK-47 which my dad carried for protection(?!) while doing video coverage for a news agency during the 1967 Six Day War in Israel. One which he then proceeded to hide in his camera bag and smuggled home to Europe, upon being air lifted out by the British Forces. Fuck knows why. I'm all for souvenirs, but an assault rifle?
"Oh yes, he kept it all that time, from 1967 right until he died in '89. At my house. I got rid of it then."
By now, the Alpha males at the table (everyone but my nephew, he's more of a Beta male) are realising that family stories in our house are a lot more interesting than they were expecting.
Mind, we are not a family of gangsters. Keeping a gun in your girlfriend's wardrobe is not considered normal behaviour. In fact, my mother is the most rule conscious person I know, to this day I find it shocking that my dad managed to smooth-talk her into having a weapon in her house, in a country with extremely strict gun laws. (Just to explain this to any Americans reading this: by "strict gun laws" I don't mean paperwork's a pain in the ass when getting a permit. I mean you CANNOT get a permit, and even something silly like pepper spray is illegal.)
"Oh my, what did you do?"
"Well, of course I phoned the police."
I hear a sigh of disbelief and horror from the Alpha male corner, this was not what they were hoping for.
"That must have been an awkward conversation."
"Not really, I phoned them and said: 'My partner has just passed away, and in his things in the wardrobe I found a Kalashnikov. What shall I do with it?' The policeman didn't believe me. He laughed at me as if I was a nutcase and told me: 'Why don't you bring it into the main police station and we'll deal with the matter there.'"
"No, you didn't give it to them, did you!" One of the Alphas exclaims.
Mom continues.
"Actually yes, I did exactly what the man had told me on the phone. I packed up the gun, and the live ammo, and went to the police station and handed it to them."
"You should've seen their faces!"
Maybe you had to be there. But this story is always a winner, even if I have already heard it many times. Funnily on this occasion the story didn't end there. The "let's show off how crazy we are in front of people we've never met before" act continued on to:
"Of course after that your grandmother handed me some knives."
Me: What?!
"Yeah, she said, 'Here, hand them to the police, they're illegal weapons.' So I did."
While I'm sitting at the table pondering why my 90 year old grandmother had big ass knives in her possession, sis helps out.
"Oh, you are aware grandma was in jail?"
Me: WTF???
And that started a whole new story.
As I said. Insane. Every single one of them.
