Duty

We are in Scarborough this weekend.  The Boy is running the Scarborough 10k in the morning and today we are doing our duty and spending time with my MIL.

I find this very very hard.  She is not a pleasant woman, is racist, homophobic, sexist and you can't just put it all down to her age (she's 80).  I spend my time biting my tongue, trying not to respond to her comments, trying to be patient.

She's also getting a bit deaf, so mishears (when she chooses) or ignores completely.  And the third and final thing is she really really smells - not over perfumed smell but dirty clothes, unwashed smell.  The Boy has little sense of smell; I unfortunately do not and have to overcompensate with my own perfume.

For years I have tried to build a relationship, take interest in her health, her friends, her life but nothing - there is no warmth there, no sense of family, we do not belong to each other.  She has an interesting relationship with The Boy.  I am so very close to my parents that I just can't fathom their relationship - or non relationship more describes it.

So we would be here even if he was not running out of a sense of duty.  At least the view is good.