There are no words

Those of you who know me in real life know I've got a pretty quick temper, but I've learned how to keep it in check....for the most part. Lately though, someone, somewhere I believe, has decided to really test the limits of my ability. And I am failing miserably.

Background: My father-in-law is a quiet man. He's funny when he speaks out, can be a bit stubborn at times, but overall, he is a good person. There has always been some blatant bias against him from his step-mother, sadly. From what I've gathered in the 14 years I've been around, she is one of those people who sees children as a burden, and the children of another woman are huge inconveniences, less lovable and certainly not on equal par with those of her direct bloodline. When marrying a man with children from a previous relationship, she didn't get the memo on couth and decorum. It makes me sad to know this man, my wonderful husband's father, was raised by someone so ugly on the inside.

Fast forward to present day: there was a family event, recently. Certain family members weren't invited, due to a long-standing issue between the hosts of the event and these family members. There have been many insults, childish outbursts and more than one drunken rant at various functions in the past. The exclusion was more than justified. The step mother in this scenario, however, took a huge offense to one of "Her" children being excluded, even knowing the reasons, she was self-righteous in spewing some choice opinions to the other children in the family; my in-laws included. Well, the event took place, despite the hard feelings. They came, did not socialize, and left without much of any interaction with the rest of the family. I think it was more for show, than anything.

Since then, there has been a huge blow-out, egged on mostly by the Self-Righteous Step Mother and her Sad Attention Seeking Favored Child. Let's keep in mind here, these two are not children, the Step Mother is beyond retirement age and Sad Child is well into what can be technically considered "mature adulthood".  It has come to the point where Other Child who is still in Mother's Favor was dispatched to drive over 1,100 miles to deliver photos, wedding announcements, thank you cards and various other memorabilia; which had been sent over the years to Step Mother and Father by my in-laws. There was also a torn photograph. What used to be a 4 generation photo, taken of my husband as an infant. The pieces she returned to my father-in-law were just of him and my husband. His father and grandfather had been torn out of the photo, along with a nasty hand written note from Step Mother.

My own wedding announcement was returned, along with a lifetime of memories captured in photographs. In essence: my in-laws and their respective children, grandchildren, spouses, etc.,  have been "removed" from their Father and Step-Mother's life.

Life is so short, and fleeting. You make the best of it, take the good with the bad and at the end of the day, you still smile. For you have breath in your lungs and a heartbeat in your chest. Yet, today, here in my household, it is really hard. Watching a man, fully grown with 3 children and a crew of grandchildren, sit and cry. Because today, he is not a full grown man. He is the child who was never given a chance.

Somebody better help me out, prayers of intervention would be much appreciated, because my temper and my tongue are certainly NOT in check today....scenarios of retaliation are front and center in my mind.