I am now halfway through my 4-party holiday nightmare. Halloween? Check. Petal's birthday? Check. Thanksgiving and Christmas still to go.
So we have Thanksgiving tomorrow. I actually love Thanksgiving. It's the least stressful of all the holidays to me. I don't mind the cooking or the cleaning...and I definitely don't mind the eating...especially my mom's stuffing. Yum.
But I do hate all the family drama that seems to happen when we all get together. Don't get me wrong...I love, love, love my family. But we are all very different with very different views on life, politics and religion. And while I enjoy a good debate as much as the next person I would love to suspend it for at least one day and sit around my sister's dining room table and just embrace the family I have surrounding me. Instead, I will be listening to my brother hate Obama and my sister stress that everything is not perfect and my mother mad that we are drinking wine (she's a major teetotaller) and me worry that my kids are getting into everything that they shouldn't be in to.....all while trying to keep smiling and enjoying the holidays.
It's okay...I know everyone's house is the same. Who sits down to Thanksgiving dinner with everything perfect? If you do....I salute you. And I also wonder what type of drugs you are on and can I have some?
But the irony is that the stress is worth it....I love my family. I love that we can cram all of us into one house for a prolonged dinner and still, despite the arguments and worry, we leave loving each other. That's pretty lucky, isn't it? It's lucky to know that I can disagree with my brother about politics and he will still answer his phone at 3:00 a.m. and give me a kidney if I asked. And I truly think he would. It's lucky that my mom can not agree with me drinking a glass of wine, but when I call to vent to her on the phone she always answers and always listens. It's lucky that I can think my sister is slightly neurotic and she knows I think so, but when I start dropping corny movie quotes at dinner she always gets them and she always laughs. And it's also lucky that through it all my dad sits back and watches us all like we're crazy...but then sends us silly texts messages for the next few weeks telling us how much he loves us and how much fun he had at Thanksgiving.
You are born with the family you get...but loving them? That's what takes the work. And liking them? Sometimes that's even harder. But I've learned that I don't have to like everything about my siblings or my parents....and they don't have to like everything about me. It's okay and not wrong. But I love them....and in loving them, I like them all a whole lot. :)
Happy Thanksgiving!
My wish flower? I wish everyone could feel happy, loved, grateful and lucky this Thanksgiving.
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