Just got done with a perfectly pleasant conversation -- after about a month -- with one of the parental units (the other as usual was absconding which just works best all around).

Apparently, my simply and firmly stating a few times over that I'll only be calling once a month seems to have finally sunk in -- no fuss, no drama and just a regular conversation ending with 'Okay, will talk end of next month' (I'd said I'd call at the end of each month).

Wow. This feels super surreal (I'd loaded up on multiple substances to ingest post the call -- that I'd thought would be invariably guilt-tripping and all-round awful -- but now, it's all unnecessary).

Did hear a whole bunch about how my brother's doing (major mental health issues) and the responses of the parental units to it -- speaking only once a month seems to have finally given me the distance needed to realize how insane all of it is. Had a visceral reaction to just not wanting to be anywhere near the whole situation (after having warned them for years and offering to help etc).

(Sorry about dumping this on the Couch.....just feels less nutty that way.)