The Walking Dead

Just a snapshot from our last family reunion.

As I said in my last post, my parents were here for a few days last week. While usually that's a good thing, this time their presence may have scarred Liam for life.

You see, Liam looks a lot like my biological father. He died while I was pregnant with Liam and we weren't very close, so my kids don't really know much about him. When someone talks about their grandfather, they only think of my step father or my husband's father. My biological father never even enters their mind.

One morning Liam was downstairs alone with my mother. Apparently she told him he looks just like his "dead grampy." Liam was a little confused by this. My mother explained further that he died of cancer before Liam was born.

She meant my biological father.

Liam assumed she meant my step father. They guy who was seemingly alive and well and walking around upstairs at that very moment.

Poor Liam grappled with this new information all day. I mean, learning your grandfather is a zombie is a lot for a seven year old to take on board.

He didn't ask about it directly because everyone else seemed to think it was perfectly normal to have a dead guy walking around the house, but in hindsight I can see that he was asking things to try to figure the situation out.

First, he asked if people could be resurrected before Jesus came back. I thought it was an odd question at the time, but I assured him that it was unlikely.

Then he seemed to take a very special interest in my step father's CPAP machine. I explained that it helped him breathe when he slept, because his body wanted to stop breathing. I may have even made a comparison to Darth Vader's respirator.

So, now Liam was not only dealing with the idea that his grandfather was a zombie who apparently was able to stay animated with the use of a special breathing machine at night, but that he might also have gone to the Dark Side.

Tuesday evening my family was out of the house and Liam nervously approached me. His unease at having a zombie grandfather was too much. He had to say something.

"Mom, how many people in our family are dead?"

"Oh, a lot. But most of them died before you were born."

"How about in our house? How many people in our house are dead?"

"None. What are you talking about?"

"Well, grammy said grampy is dead, but I don't understand how he can walk around. I think that breathing machine makes it so he can walk even though he's dead."

"What do you mean grammy said grampy is dead? Grampy is alive. I promise. Dead people can't walk around."

"She said I looked like him and he died of cancer before I was born."

And then I realized the confusion and explained who she was talking about.

He was extremely relieved, but he still eyed my step father suspiciously the next day.
You just can't trust a zombie. They're a sneaky bunch.