"You Probably Don't Remember Me !"

It's the dreaded statement when you are attending an annual family gathering. It almost beckons one to say something snarky in kind.

I don't go to many family gatherings/events that might create such a situation. Also, now that I am 66+, there are fewer older people who pull that obnoxious line on me. These days--with the rampant occurrence of dementia--they might as soon say, "I don't remember me either," after the initial statement.
I'm never quite sure what the purpose of it is.

• I know something you don't know.
• I'm not important
• It's been a long time since we saw one another
• Let's play guess!
• Does your family talk about me?
• Let me tell you where I stand in the family tree

I'm sure any reader of this could come up with possibilities of his or her own machination. The people I mention are not evil, they are just obnoxious. Or their method of introducing themselves is just not particularly welcoming. I have memories of the 'come hug me' moment. I never thought of myself as being particularly touchy-feely with strangers. Having strange people in the family doesn't make them automatically less strange because they are related. Even as a child, there were moments when I distinguished between blood relatives and the interlopers that married in. Although, however, I must say there were times when the person who married into the family was of a higher station than the biological relative.

Not sure I want to continue writing about this topic. I'll just end it here.