It was a really long shift, and I’m glad to be home. I’m not sure how I’ll make it through tomorrow. I love my family dearly, but I know how they are and how they can be, and I’m not looking forward to it at all.
I watch this video every year, and it never fails to make me tear up a little. When I first encountered it, probably a decade ago, I loved it because it reminded me of my family: big, loud, with racist and alcoholic undertones, but with a lot of love. Watching it now, and I’m saddened a bit. We’re smaller; people have moved across the country, loved ones have passed, cousins and grandkids have built their own families with their own holiday traditions. Unfortunately, some personal relationships have suffered over the years. One or another family member won’t go if another will be there, someone else isn’t welcome. At some point, someone else may decide not to go because of a falling out, or maybe an invite won’t be extended in the first place.
I know what’s coming. Everything’s eventual.
And it fucking hurts.
So, to my internet friends, love your family this holiday, and love them every day. But remember that family is what you make it, made up of the people you choose.
I choose you.
Merry Christmas 🎄
