I'll spare you the details of how we started talking about it, but one of our conversations reminded me of something that used to affect my dad. When I was a kid, we just to joke around a bit about how loudly my dad snores, and the funny noises that he would make. We had no idea what we were encountering.
After undergoing observation at a sleep clinic, my dad was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. They determined that the jerky snorting noise he made after the brief pauses in his breathing were the sound of his breathing stopping. This would happen several hundred times per night for a few seconds. Stopping breathing = lack of oxygen to the brain. You do the math.
I sometimes wonder how long it really affected him and how much of our lives were irrevocably changed. After undergoing several steps to treat his sleep apnea, he basically became a better person. While he wasn't a complete nasty SOB all of the time, he could probably be described as grouchy for a very good segment of his waking hours. Snapping at people when things didn't go his way, childish behavior, and doling out the silent treatment were normal occurrences.
Part of the reason why I gave this some thought is that a friend of mine recently took the SO on a "Meet The Family" trip. In passing, I mentioned to JB that I've never actually brought someone home to meet the parentals (My mom had met one of my SOs, but that's because my mom came to Austin, and not the other way around). JB mentioned that she was surprised. The two of us are habitual tangent-takers in conversations, such that the constant branching often leaves unfinished conversations. That was one topic that we never finished, but it reminded me of the fact that I dread the day that I do this for real. On some level, if either side is unhappy with the other, than that's how it is and I can't change it. On the other hand, I wonder who they'll meet. Will my dad be Dr Jekyll (the loving pediatrician) or Mr Hyde (the pouty evil side that still surfaces)? I'll worry about it when I meet Mrs Right (well I hope it's Ms. Right and she isn't already married).
Everybody's family is a little bit crazy, but often for different reasons. If you find one that isn't, you're probably not looking hard enough.
