Saturday, October 12, 2002
When we had cleaned up the house, it was time to go to the airport to pick up my Uncle Sonny and his family. Mom insisted she and Arnie came too. I wish she would stay away! Mom has never said anything nice about him, and now she acts as if he is coming just to see her!
Mom has made all kinds of plans for us to do together.
When we got to the airport, we met up with Mom, Arnie, Sander, Beth, and her family. Sander reeked of alcohol. It was clear he had been drinking.
While we were waiting for my uncle and his family to come off the plane, I said, “I wonder if we will be able to recognize them?” Then Mom said, “Oh, I will be the one to tell you who they are!” It’s been 42 years since Mom had seen Sonny, and she has never met his wife or kids.
Sonny had sent me pictures of himself and his family. I recognized them right away. Mom was irritated with me for pointing them out. Oh, how I wished that she had not come to the airport! She acted as if they were here just for her and kept trying to take over our conversation.
When we drove Sonny and his family to our house, I told Sonny that my mom had made plans for them for the whole week. Sonny made it clear that they were not here to see her and that he didn’t like her. He said, even though it has been 42 years, I still didn’t want to have anything to do with her! I know she is your mom, but she took you and Sander away from my brother, and she hurt him!”
I assured my uncle I understood and didn’t want to spend the week with her either! I said, “When we meet up at our house, let’s tell her we are going to Disneyland and that we will call her when we get back.” Sonny thought that was a great idea.
When we all met up at our house, I made some food for us. Then Mom started to tell them about all the plans she had made. I quickly interrupted and told Mom that those were not our plans. Mom was not happy about it! I assured her that we would call her as soon as we got back from Disneyland. I was afraid Mom would demand to come along, but our plans caught her off guard.
After Beth, her family, Mom, Arnie, and Sander had left, Sonny thought it would be fun to go to Disneyland. I showed him on a map how far away it was. Sonny seemed disappointed. I told Sonny we could still drive there, but we would spend most of the week driving back and forth.
Sonny and his family decided they would stay in Utah. I assured them there were plenty of fun things we could do here.
Sunday, October 13, 2002
We skipped church since Sonny and his family aren’t Mormon. Since it’s Sunday, we brought them to see Temple Square and the Visitor Center.
Monday, October 14, 2002
Sonny said he was hoping to visit with Sander while he was here. I called up Sander to invite him over. Sander was excited to come along. I told him not to tell Mom that we hadn’t gone to Disneyland. Sander was fine with it because he needed a break from her.
Friday, October 18, 2002
Wow, what a week! This week has gone by so fast while Sonny and his family have been here. Sander slept at our house the whole week. He managed to stay sober.
While Sonny and his family were here, Sonny saw that I had a karaoke machine, so we sang songs together. Since we have the same taste in music, we had so much fun!
We visited Temple Square, the State Capitol Building, Park City, Timpanogos Cave, and Thanksgiving Point. Saw the North American Museum of Ancient Life. Went to South Town Mall. Carved and painted pumpkins. Sonny cooked us a Danish meal. (Flaeskesteg) Went to the mountains and did a hike. While we were in the mountains, we had dinner by a campfire. You can’t come to Utah without going to Leatherby’s and having ice cream, so we did that too. We also went to the zoo and visited the Copper Mine. I can’t believe how much we have been able to do in so few days!
Before Sonny came to visit, I had made a deal with him. Since he had paid for the plane tickets, we would pay for whatever we did while they were here.
Anytime we did anything, we had to pay for Sander since he said he didn’t have any money. It was so irritating! Sander would stand in line with the rest of the family and take it for granted that I paid for him, too.
All day today, Mom called us on the phone, and on Richard’s cell phone. She knows we should be back from California by now. We don’t answer her calls. I know there will be hell to pay, but I am glad we have been able to avoid her this long!
This evening, we went and saw a Halloween display at the Benson Grits Mill. When we got back, Mom and Arnine were sitting outside our house waiting for us. By the look on Mom’s face, you could tell he was angry!
When we went into our house, Mom and Arnie followed. Once we got inside, Richard and I did all we could to avoid her. Mom made it clear that she was not happy! We never said anything back. We didn’t want to cause a scene. We didn’t have to. Mom did it for us! After Mom and Arnie left, we were all relieved they were gone. I apologized to Sonny and Kirsten for her behavior. Sonny smiled and said, “She hasn’t changed a bit after all these years!” Sonny’s wife, Kirsten, said, ” Oh, she made me feel so uncomfortable! I didn’t know what to do!”
We stayed up late talking because tonight was the last night they were here. I asked my uncle if he thought that I was his niece. Sonny assured me that he could see my mannerisms were just like his side of the family. He said now that he had seen me in person, he had no doubts whatsoever that his brother was my dad! I was glad to hear that. I still would like to know 100 percent for sure!
Saturday, October 19, 2002
We took Sonny and his family to the airport this morning. Sander drove in his own car. When we had said goodbye to my uncle and his family, Sander thought he was coming back with us. He said, “So where are we going to go today?” I told him I had saved up my babysitting money, and we had used it all up. It was back to normal life again. I let him know I was going home to take a nap. I hurried and thanked him for coming. I did what I could to help him understand he couldn’t come to our house. So he went back to Mom’s place.
When we got home, the house felt empty. I’m going to miss Uncle Sonny and his family. I wish Denmark weren’t so far away!
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