My Mother thinks She’s a Vampire

(A 19 Year old Girl talks about struggling with her mother’s unusual identity)

By Deacon Gray

2/10/2015 © Graveyard press

Everyone knows that kid you grew up with who had a weird parent. Jimmy’s mom might be a hippy tree hugger, or Donald’s dad makes everyone separate their trash for compost. But, what if it was your parent, and what if they were much more unusual? Insert Lizzy

Lizzy is a nineteen year old young lady, with bright green eyes, soft red hair, and the pale skin. She was her class vice president, and the leader of the pep club at school. She was in nearly every way the typical teenage girl. Typical with one exception “My mom thinks she is a vampire. Do you know how hard that is to explain to a guy after he picks you up for your first date?”

Lizzy (Elisabeth) laughs a little but the amusement doesn’t reach her eyes. Since she was a little girl her mother has been not only obsessed with vampires, she dressed like one, had fake teeth made, and has been known to drink cow blood. “Thankfully, not in front of guests.”

In time she even started to claim to be a real living vampire, something that not only caused her daughter a little embarrassment, but concern. I’ll let her tell you about in her own words. “I didn’t start out knowing there was anything different about my mother. When other kids talked about their mom, the basics all seemed to match up. She made me clean my room, she got on me about my music being too loud, and she had this weird insistence that leafy greens are important for me to eat, even if I hated them. It wasn’t until a family day at school when I was nine that I really started to notice how she was different.

The kids noticed that she always wore dark colors, they also noticed that she had a Ankh and Pentagram she wore around her neck.  It wasn’t unusual to for kids to ask me if I my mom was a Witch, or Goth. I settled for telling them she was a goth, it made more sense than saying she was a vampire, though given any time more than a few minutes and the subject of vampires was bound to come up. She really came off as mental to most other parents. Parents didn’t allow their kids to come over to my place for sleep over’s, and several told their kids not even play with me.

I honestly don’t think she knew what she was putting me through, though I have to admit it could have been worse. By the time I was in high school my crowd of friends was pretty well established. We were the freaks, the geeks and the rejects, you know… good people. Perhaps that was for the best. We didn’t have to worry all the time about falling out of favor with the cool kids, because to us they weren’t cool. My mom taught us to be ourselves, to understand that we have to allow others to be themselves as well, and I guess that’s a powerful lesson.

I won’t lie to you, it is hard nothing being popular. It’s difficult only having the cool guys pay attention to you because they think they can hook up with you. It’s hard to be seen as less than human, too stupid, ugly, poor, different or dorky to be included. It’s a hard lesson, but I learned it well. Tolerance isn’t about ignoring those you don’t understanding.

I learned My mom is an amazing person; someone who is indeed different, but not crazy. I learned there will always be those people out there who don’t understand, and never will. But, I think the lesson I learned that means the most to me was this one. People who love you for who you are, are the only ones who matter.

I don’t believe that my mother is a vampire, but I know she loves me, and I would rather live a life with a weird parent that loves me, rather than a picture perfect life with a parent who doesn’t take the time or make an effort.