Fiiiiiiiive Familyyyy Gatherings...
A few years ago Hollywood brought us the movie "Four Christmases" with Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon. In the film, this couple always planned a vacation during the Christmas season so they could avoid their respective families during the holidays. The plan falls apart and they end up having to attend all four family events. They survive the ordeal, but the situation makes for good comedy.
Getting married has brought us not four Christmases...no that would be a welcome scenario, actually....but marriage has brought us FIVE Christmases. We have three in my family (two extended and one with immediate family) and two gatherings of immediate family for Joe's side of the house. None of these gatherings takes place in the town where we live. Each event involves at least an hour and a half of driving. One way. Our dog is only welcome at one gathering and is tolerated at another. The whole Christmas break is fraught with stress.
I hear friends talk about just having their own little family gathering on Christmas day or taking a cruise over Christmas break and it all sounds so free and wonderful. I love my family...all of them...but I don't love the five drives involved in spending the holidays with them or having to figure out what to do with poor Truman while we're away. Maybe someday we can get our Christmases together for one gigantic family event. Or maybe the entire family should all just go on a cruise together and forget about the stress that Christmas can bring -- while we drink out of glasses with tiny umbrellas sticking out of them. Until then, I'll dream about it. If you see me smiling during the holidays, imagine me with a fruity cruise-style drink in my hand and you'll have a pretty good idea of what's going on inside my head.
Getting married has brought us not four Christmases...no that would be a welcome scenario, actually....but marriage has brought us FIVE Christmases. We have three in my family (two extended and one with immediate family) and two gatherings of immediate family for Joe's side of the house. None of these gatherings takes place in the town where we live. Each event involves at least an hour and a half of driving. One way. Our dog is only welcome at one gathering and is tolerated at another. The whole Christmas break is fraught with stress.
I hear friends talk about just having their own little family gathering on Christmas day or taking a cruise over Christmas break and it all sounds so free and wonderful. I love my family...all of them...but I don't love the five drives involved in spending the holidays with them or having to figure out what to do with poor Truman while we're away. Maybe someday we can get our Christmases together for one gigantic family event. Or maybe the entire family should all just go on a cruise together and forget about the stress that Christmas can bring -- while we drink out of glasses with tiny umbrellas sticking out of them. Until then, I'll dream about it. If you see me smiling during the holidays, imagine me with a fruity cruise-style drink in my hand and you'll have a pretty good idea of what's going on inside my head.
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