been doing more things together. We walk at various parks, we attend free one-time classes at the local libraries and make a craft, we go out and shoot a bow and arrow, etc. While I almost always enjoy what we do, I admittedly sometimes go along more to make her happy than because it's something I *really* want to do at that specific time. She's someone that needs to be constantly doing something and prefers someone do it with her, and her friends and the one cousin that still lives in the area aren't always available to indulge her. Plus I know that when I get older, I'm going to want family to keep me company, so I'm modeling this behavior now <g>.
Anyways for Christmas this year, my dad surprised me with an inexpensive compound bow that came with a quiver and two arrows, plus he bought a few extra arrows. It was a lovely, thoughtful thing for him to do and a fantastic gift...and it completely p*ssed my aunt off. She told me he was "selfish" to do so because the bow and arrow thing is "OUR thing", and how dare he hone in on that--can't we just have this one thing to ourselves? I was stunned when she (literally) said all that. "Our thing"? Really? We walk. We go to the library and make crafts. We take each other leftovers and hang out and talk. She taught me to play Rummikub and I promised we'd do it again in the future. The bow and arrow shooting is just one thing we do. I think it's great that we each now have a bow (I gave her some money towards the first bow and some extra arrows) and can now shoot at the same time, at separate targets.
Dad and his baby sister have always butted heads a little (in part because they're very similar in some ways) but as they both age, they're growing more intolerant of each other's less desirable personality quirks. And I'm often caught in the middle (though TBH, and this isn't my bias showing...it's my aunt who's much more likely to complain than my dad). I love my aunt...usually...but unless Dad does something REALLY egregious, I'm siding with him. And buying me a bow and arrow? Not egregious.
