quagmire

What a sham. But sham implies that we’re fooling someone. Truth is no one is close enough to us to allow any scrutiny. In-laws aren’t fooled because they knew the mess before I hitched my wagon to it. My modes of coping are familiar to them. Familial. Spending so much time in their lives provides a 360 degree, past-present-future view of my quagmire.