45 minutes

That is how much time my dad, his second wife, and their son (my half brother who is around 12 years old, I think) graced us with their presences today. Apparently, in 15 days while they are here, that is the only amount of time they could squeeze us in...while they were on the way back from spending the day with my youngest sister at the beach (who pitched a fit last time they came into town a few years ago when they only had time for a cup of coffee with her) on their way back to her sisters where they are staying. Of course, they were supposed to be here around 6 pm at the latest and didn't get here until right before Max's bedtime. It felt like such a duty visit, an obligation, that I wish they wouldn't have even bothered. I actually would have let Max stay up a bit later to spend time with them and he was pretty wound up by then with visitors so late. Max was actually very charming and well behaved with very good listening skills while they were here. Even though I told Max who they were, he doesn't really understand yet. Still it was hard when I was explaining that they had to go bye-bye and he said, no, and pointed to the chair for them to sit back down. I guess I am supposed to be honored that they gave us any time (they have actually come into town and not told us or tried to see us at all, because you know, her family is much more important). They spent most of the time telling me how busy they were and all. It just left me feeling sad and emotional.