My wife Julia has been fairly estranged from her Mom for large parts of her life. They’ve always just rubbed one another the wrong way and have found it best to keep a safe distance between them. Still, a few times a year we’ll make the trek out to see her Mom and Julia’s half-sister, Autumn.
Last August, Julia and I begrudgingly opted to make the hour-long drive to attend her Mom’s 50th birthday party. We weren’t jazzed about it, but felt we should get in our time now and maybe skip Thanksgiving there in a few months.
It was sticky hot that day. Julia’s mother Anne lived in a cookie-cutter neighborhood just on the city side of the boonies. It was simultaneously nice and trashy. Regardless, she had an in-ground pool which was heavily occupied with party goers due to the late summer mugginess. After Julia and I grabbed a few beers, we made our way to the edge of the pool. That’s when Autumn emerged from the water, lighting up at our arrival.