What's that song? "My lovely, lovely Brother?"
And, or course the "A mother's love is unconditional" Boy, has my mother proved that to be true!
Growing up my brother never had to lift a finger, I mean it's girls that have to learn housework. I am going back more than 50 years. He is 60 now, I'm 2 years older.
He was spoilt rotten couldn't do a thing wrong. I apparently did everything wrong. By 16 he was off the rails and by 17 in Borstal as it was called then.
He is 60 now and still lives with my parents and has never married, he has made their lives a misery but my mum will forever make excuses for him. He is an alcoholic with all the grief that brings. He has smashed doors and God knows what else over the years in their house, verbally abused then and reduced my mum to tears. Still she won't hear a word against him and my dad puts up with it so as not to upset mum more.
If ever we were going out as a family for a meal, mum would insist he came too. Every single occasion would be wrecked by his drunken behaviour but still she would want him to come the next time. My 50th he was as drunk as a lord and wouldn't let the waitress clear the table, HE took the plates out to the kitchen!!! I suppose at least I can't accuse him of not lifting a finger!!
Christmas he used to come here because my mum was so upset about the thought of him on his own. The ironic thing is he wanted to be on his own at home where he could drink himself senseless. Instead he would sit out here working his way through every bit of alcohol in the house. At least now he has done exactly that for years and mum accepts it, stayed at home.
His finest hour was my Mum and Dad's Diamond Wedding. When mum got married, she was a refugee in Austria living in a refugee camp. Her family had nothing, women in the camp made her wedding dress from a parachute. She went to her wedding in the back of a Army Landrover on dusty roads. The priest that married them was falling down drunk and had to be held up by someone else.
So we booked them into a Castle (mum loves historical!) where they would stay the night. Had them picked up in a Rolls Royce, organised a meal fit for a Queen. In other words everything they never had first time round.
My brother swore he would stay sober, I pleaded with him, just a couple of hours for the meal. Mum and dad had already spent the day there when we arrived for the meal, we were ushered into a room where we had our own bar and waiter where we were to wait for mum and dad to appear. I walked in the door and there was my brother, drunk as hell, drinking beer and whisky chasers. It was downhill from then, I ended up dragging him out of the meal, he was effing and blinding and when I got him outside I let him have years of pent up exactly what I thought of him. God knows what I said, I can't remember, but I reduced him to tears.
Dad said that's it, he's out. We picked them up the next morning and mum had obviously spent most of the night in tears. I haven't spoken to him since and that was 2 years ago. Mum is still waiting on him hand and foot. Mum is 80 now, dad is 86 and one thing I can tell you, it will never change Bupcakes.