Each family member plays a role. Sometimes several, sometimes one. The most unfortunate of these roles of course is the role of the middleman. I have a lifetime of experience in this role as I'm sure many out there do. It is a sad role; one you can never truly be detached from for the part is played among the most fundamental of convictions - family.
It's impossible to describe to the fullest extent the pain it has caused me personally. And it would be stupid of me to offer advice on how to how to play this role for I, myself, have failed it miserably. The middleman's job is to be the intermediary, the go-between, the peacekeeper; and while I have perhaps prevented a few wars I find myself with no peace...and rather in a mess of confused pieces.
My role has shifted across the years. No battle less painful, no circumstance easier than the other. And while the situations and the scenarios and the settings change, I find myself permanently stuck right where I have always unintentionally landed.
I didn't ask for this role. Most wouldn't. Truly I don't think anyone wants to be a middleman. It's the hardest job and the most mocked. The least appreciated and the hardest fought. And while the sides of each perpetual feud exit the scene, they leave the battle scars behind. In the middle ground, in the middleman. A mess, scarred and torn. Sewn up, but never the same innocent quality as before.
It's impossible to describe to the fullest extent the pain it has caused me personally. And it would be stupid of me to offer advice on how to how to play this role for I, myself, have failed it miserably. The middleman's job is to be the intermediary, the go-between, the peacekeeper; and while I have perhaps prevented a few wars I find myself with no peace...and rather in a mess of confused pieces.
My role has shifted across the years. No battle less painful, no circumstance easier than the other. And while the situations and the scenarios and the settings change, I find myself permanently stuck right where I have always unintentionally landed.
I didn't ask for this role. Most wouldn't. Truly I don't think anyone wants to be a middleman. It's the hardest job and the most mocked. The least appreciated and the hardest fought. And while the sides of each perpetual feud exit the scene, they leave the battle scars behind. In the middle ground, in the middleman. A mess, scarred and torn. Sewn up, but never the same innocent quality as before.
