|
Scott, what is it he likes to do? Does he like trucks, tools, guns, RVs, armchair traveling, books, trains?
I have trouble with my mostly-negative father-in-law too, and I can ALWAYS find a way to be supportive -- without subjecting myself to a complaint-fest -- by going to things like model train stores, the aviation museum, the restaurant with the big dead animal heads on the walls, etc. When we DO talk, I'm asking him questions about his remembrances about these kinds of things, picking his brain. That serves three purposes: I learn something new, it keeps the discussion on a healthy plane, AND makes him feel like his knowledge is valued.
Worth a try, if you can find an appropriate substitute in your neck of the woods.
Gourmet burgers.....mmmmmmmmm.
__________________
"Tell me, what are you going to do with your one wild and precious life?" --Mary Oliver
"Action is the antidote to despair." --Joan Baez
"False hopes bind us to unlivable situations, and blind us to real possibilities." --Derrick Jensen |