Community Chat

[Desert Lily]

Life changes. Circumstances change.

People - family & friends - move away, and they pass away. Children grow up and have their holiday responsibilities and in-laws, while the elderly might appreciate fewer holiday responsibilities.

Holidays have always changed & evolved for me, & I imagine for others.

I loved holidays as a child with immediate family & grandparents. On Christmas Day we all visited aunts, uncles, & cousins at 1 house. Next came holidays with spouses and children and extended family, but grandparents had passed. Siblings & cousins moved away for new jobs & opportunities. Friends began to be included in holiday celebrations. Moving & growing in new directions continued and made it difficult for some to gather.

Faces changed, but love didn't.

I live near & celebrate with my child and my sibling. But maybe that will end up to be another phase when our lives change again.

I've hosted many holidays throughout the years. I never resented it; I appreciated having loved ones near. Now, I also have memories of holidays of yesteryear. Were they all perfect? No. But, I'm very glad we shared them.

Those are the people that I love/loved. I'd reach out to them, and they'd reach out to me. I've learned to cherish each phase because we don't know where we'll be when the next holiday comes.

[beckyb1012]

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@LavernLuvsShoes wrote:

I learned long ago that spending the holidays with Family was not the Norman Rockwell picture I hoped it would be. 

So, we decided we'd just spend Thanksgiving and Christmas (just the two of us) relaxing, enjoying my home-cooked feast, and watching football - Totally free from all of the stress and drama.

Works for us. 

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My Thanksgiving is not Norman Rockwall in the fact that I spend it every year with my ex husband's family.   He is not invited nor to any other family function through out the year.  Christmas I do spend with my own "blood" family but after the divorce in 1999 I kept them and they kept me.  It is crazy but his sisters are my sisters.  

[smoochy]

this might make some ppl cringe...on Christmas Day hubby and I eat a midday dinner at Golden Corral buffet. It's very festive. They have it so well organized, managing the seating very well. We love going there for the food and people watching. Wishing happy holidays to folks, just enjoying a tasty meal and feeling some camaraderie with people of all kinds. Then we take a leisurely walk around the lake at a downtown park. One year a guy in a Speedo and Santa hat whizzed past us on a skateboard. Lol