User blog:AustinDR/My Uncle

So I had just found out that my uncle is intending on never coming back home. So, he got a teaching job over in China, I understand that much; but he had just told my mom that he wasn't going to come back home to Memphis, Tennessee (I don't live there, but that's beside the point). Now, don't get me wrong; I love my uncle (even though I don't see him as much as the rest of my extended family)...even though he has weird quirks. I mean, one time he came to visit, he was wearing some Chinese styled clothing that just looked ugly. I'm no fashion expert, but...to say that I was embarrassed by him is an understatement. What made me angry at him, however, was much, much more. He had been having financial problems for a long time, so my parents and I would have to scrap in to give him some money, so this is how he repays everything that we had done for him? I guess that's my uncle's way: if anything, I do blame most of his issues on my late grandfather, who I used to call Papa. I hated him...well, hatred is too strong of a word, really. If it wasn't for him, my mother wouldn't have been born, and as a result neither would I, but he did so many terrible things, that I never felt close to the old man. Heck, when I was younger, not once did he hold me, feed me, or at the very least have a conversation with me as I got older. My grandmother was the one who did all of that - and as she got older, I began to help her by buckling her up in her car seat, helping her with the clothes, and all that. After she broke her hip that one time, I had grown to enjoy having her live with me and my parents, even though she nags me a few times. With Papa....I just can't even think of any good memories between us. One of the worst things he ever did was have an affair with another woman, and he would have the gall to give that woman and her child money, while he wouldn't give jacksquat to Mama or their children. I don't mean to get on a slight rant...after all, the guy had been dead for about 9 years, but I believe my uncle acts the way he does because of him to a degree.

I'm pretty sure that my uncle won't stay in China forever; after all, as he can't keep a stable job, he'll probably be back to ask us for assistance, but I am just repulsed by the aspect that he would just leave and never come back. Especially when he would have no ties with us anymore. I just hope this time he'll be able to keep that job. I'm giving up on him. Mama already did...I doubt that he'd even come to see her when she inevitably dies. After all, no one lives forever.