Mockingbirds

I sometimes wonder if my family is as supportive of one another as we could be. I'm quite certain that we haven't been in the past. I recall too many instances where an attempt at something new was met with mockery rather than encouragement. It's not something I'm terribly proud of.

I wasn't really aware of it growing up until a close friend of my mother began spending a lot of time in the house and engaged in the same behaviour. It may be because I viewed her as an outsider that her comments seemed particularly vicious - or perhaps they just were. Regardless, it seemed there was little encouragement to succeed in my family. We may have been told "try, try and try again" but what we witnessed was "try, fail, and be laughed at"

My youngest brother returned from a short jaunt to Poland yesterday in time for his birthday today. However, his return journey involved a detour via Manchester, rather than the direct flight he'd been expected to take, after he missed his flight due to being thoroughly hungover. Despite having suffered financially as a result (he'd had to pay for the Manchester flight, plus a rental car to make his way back home), he returned to face numerous digs as his expense, and by the end of the evening seemed thoroughly fed up with it all - for which I cannot blame him.

We're not horrible to one another all the time, but it does seem that we find it hard to resist when the opportunity presents itself, even now. I'm probably making more of it than the issue really deserves, but I can't help but wish things had been different...