Well Thanksgiving was nice this year. Dennis and I drove up to my dad's cottage in Michigan and had a great meal with my dad, his fiance, and her kids. As good as the food was and as nice as the atmosphere was, I couldn't help but think that the Holidays just aren't the same anymore.
I miss the days when 20-30-40 of us would all get together and have a big meal, play games, and spend the day relaxing together with the whole family. Christmas was always the best. Every Christmas Eve we would all go to my Grandmas house and do a big present swap, have a big meal, sit in the kitchen and talk, play games, and just be together. This Christmas will not be like that.
Of course as we all grow up, we all have other things going on in our lives. I have one cousin who is married and is obligated to spend time with his wife's family on Christmas Eve. And I can understand that because I myself lay down the law and make my husband go with me to my family's on Christmas Eve. My sister constantly makes whatever boy she is dating the biggest priority in her life. Last year she and her fiance stopped by for a bit, but she spent most of her time with his family. This year she has a new boyfriend and will spending Christmas with his family. She spent Thanksgiving with his family too.
Instead of the big Christmas gathering, there will probably be 10 or so of us at my Grandmas this year. Oh well. Things change. It just makes me sad that we can't all get together every once in a while. The last time we were all together was at my wedding, and the next time will probably be whenever someone else gets married. But, I will always remember the Christmases when I was a kid and when we did all get together.
It's pretty incredible to see how much a family can change over time. Things are much different now than they were when I was a kid. You have births, deaths, divorces, marriages, people moving away, people moving in, career changes, and personality changes. Priorities change and peoples lives change. It's pretty interesting to see how much my family has changed over the years and to look at all of the things that caused those changes.
Well enough nostalgia for me. I hope that whoever you spend Christmas with you will still feel like you are "home" for the holidays.
2 comments:
I have the opposite thing since I married Nathan. Growing up we had tiny little family get together. When I go back with Nathan it is a good 40 plus people. I have to admit I was overwhelmed at first, but now I love it.
Yeah, we have the BIG get togethers with Dennis's family for every occassion too - birthdays, 4th of July, all holidays, etc. There are always a ton of people around for that. and I do love it. I just wish my side of the family was the same way. I miss it.
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