# Family relationships
Woman Refuses to Let 'Bully' In-Law Be Bridesmaid
Who should get final say in who is chosen to be in a wedding party?. Planning a wedding can be an exciting time, but it can also be stressful. There are a lot of decisions that have to be made, from who to invite as guests, to what the theme will be, to a lot of nitty-gritty details.
My grandmother saved her special sheets in case someone got sick
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. We all have items we put away for a rainy day or other reasons. For example, my maternal grandmother had a set of beautifully embroidered sheets that she never used. The edges of the flat sheet and the openings of the pillowcases bore delicately sewn flowers.
My mother refused to believe she was dating a ladies' man until she married him
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. According to my mother, dating my father was quite an adventure. She didn't mean it in a good way.
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My mother was furious when the little boys upstairs complained about her cooking
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. According to my mother, having tenants is one of the most horrible things she has ever encountered, and she never wants to experience it again. My parents had tenants who lived on the second-floor apartment while my family lived on the first-floor apartment, and my mother has countless stories about the reasons why she would never rent out part of her home to strangers now.
My boyfriend refused to share after I paid his rent, food, clothes: 'I know you love Yoo-hoo, so I didn't get you one'
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events I experienced firsthand; used with permission. My longest relationship lasted twelve years. I do not know how it lasted that long. My boyfriend of more than a decade was the most selfish man I've ever met.
A fortune teller said my grandmother would live to be 120, and my grandmother believed her
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. My grandmother knew she would not live forever, but she thought she would live to be a lot older than most people. When she was a young girl, a fortune teller said she would live to be 120 years old, and she believed her. She bragged about it all the time.
My father said he wanted boiled pig's tails for dinner and my mother didn't know he was kidding
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. The first time my mother cooked a traditional boiled dinner, it wasn't pretty, and it certainly wasn't appetizing. My grandmother had raised my father on a variety of different meats that some people would find unappetizing, including my mother.
Woman returns from ladies' room with toilet paper and skirt tucked into her girdle in embarrassing work snafu
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. My mother worked at a jewelry shop in the 1960s. While working at the shop one afternoon, one of her coworkers went to the ladies' room, used the facilities, and then walked back to the floor where everyone else was hard at work making costume jewelry out of rhinestones.
My father demands his socks remain with their original partner
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. My father is a very picky person. Not only have I witnessed this firsthand, but my mother has told me all about his pickiness in great detail. One area in which my father is particularlyparticular involves his socks.
My father rescued a box of kittens from the Walmart parking lot
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. My mother worked for the local Walmart for over a decade. During that time, my father and I made frequent trips to the store to make purchases and to visit my mother at work.
My father refused to wear a shirt with a missing button
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. My mother was a young newlywed. She married my father when she was just eighteen years old.
The butcher asked my mother if she wanted all 5 chicken legs from the same chicken
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. These days, if I want to buy a package of chicken legs, I can grab a prepackaged plastic-wrapped bundle at the grocery store without speaking to anyone. Back in the 1960s, it was a different story. If you wanted to buy chicken legs from a butcher, you had to be prepared for a little social interaction and a touch of humor.
My father had an affair with my boyfriend's grandmother before I was born
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events I experienced firsthand; used with permission. My first boyfriend was the grandson of my father's former mistress. It was a strange and terrible coincidence. My father had an affair with my boyfriend's grandmother long before either of us was born.
My drunk uncle said he saw my parents in the emergency room, and no one believed him
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. In 1962, my parents were involved in a car accident. My mother was unhurt, but my father banged his nose on the steering wheel.
A hotel guest locked her small child in a hot car in the parking lot while she hung out with her friend
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events I experienced firsthand; used with permission. I spent nearly two years working as a hotel maid. It was one of the most soul-crushing jobs I've held since deciding to enter the workforce directly out of high school in lieu of pursuing a college education.
My mother's first job was working with rhinestones and mud
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. At sixteen years old, my mother got a job at a jewelry shop making rhinestone costume jewelry. According to my mother, when she thinks back on her first job, she finds it fascinating. She said it was a fun job, and she loved it.
I rescued an abandoned cat: his former owner took him back
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events I experienced firsthand; used with permission. My first apartment was a cockroach-infested studio on the ground floor of a three-story building. I lived across the hall from a couple with a large dog that defecated voluminously in the hallway and a plump orange cat named Sampson.
Opinion: my mother thinks Walmart’s Code Adam policy is stupid
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. When they hire new employees at Walmart, they hold a meeting with the new associates. Among other topics, managers discuss the store's Code Adam policy.
My grandfather bought a haunted rocking chair and gave it to my parents
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. Way back in the 1950s, there was a couple in my family's old neighborhood whom everyone thought was happy; they were wrong. Their family comprised a middle-aged couple and their two teenage sons. One boy was seventeen, and the other was nineteen.
My grandmother taught my mother how to cook without saying a word
*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family member who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. When my parents were newlyweds, my father told my mother that he wanted her to learn how to cook just like his mom. His first wife had never cooked for him, and he was determined that his second wife would become the perfect housewife.