Well both parents gone when I was 23, Wife has been gone for 10. So I have become a Grinch. Mom and my wife LOVED X Mas.
Do you dread family gatherings?
- Thread starter Kern Dog
- Start date
- Local time
- 10:14 PM
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2012
- Messages
- 40,991
- Reaction score
- 147,730
- Location
- Granite Bay CA
I try to host the family here for birthdays, Summer bar b ques and Christmas.
I must have been going through a darker period in 2017 when I first started this topic because I do enjoy the get-togethers nowadays.
I must have been going through a darker period in 2017 when I first started this topic because I do enjoy the get-togethers nowadays.
- Local time
- 1:14 AM
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2018
- Messages
- 21,464
- Reaction score
- 67,946
- Location
- Midland Ontario, Canada
We get older and it starts meaning more!
That said I tired quickly some 35/40 years ago, expected to be both at my parents and Wife's parents on Christmas day. Hell they were only 6 hours apart and us 1.5 hours from the first one, but my old '77 Ramcharger locked up in 4 HI got us there. LOL I don't miss that at all! Wife's parents are still with us, but her Dad is in Florida all Winter and her Mom I threw out of the house in '89... so life is good! LOL
That said I tired quickly some 35/40 years ago, expected to be both at my parents and Wife's parents on Christmas day. Hell they were only 6 hours apart and us 1.5 hours from the first one, but my old '77 Ramcharger locked up in 4 HI got us there. LOL I don't miss that at all! Wife's parents are still with us, but her Dad is in Florida all Winter and her Mom I threw out of the house in '89... so life is good! LOL
- Local time
- 12:14 AM
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2012
- Messages
- 74,355
- Reaction score
- 285,038
- Location
- New Hampster
Post the unedited picture in the appropriate forum. Please.
Our holiday routine has changed in the past couple years. My MIL passed away 2 years ago, and we always spent Christmas Eve at her house. The kids loved it, and the food and company was good. Christmas is spent at my Moms house, and I cook a prime rib, football and left/right/center was always played after dinner. This year and from now on will be a tough one on the holidays with Nellas passing away. My Mom is not doing well with that, and my wife is still completely devastated. Nella loved Christmas, now with her gone, I just don’t know how we’re going to get through the holidays. I’m going to put ketchup on my Turkey this year in memory of her, she hated gravy, but loved ketchup, even on her Turkey. We’re just going to do our best to get through this year.
With our parents gone, my wife has assumed the role of patriarch of the family. She has two sisters and two brothers, and we are close with the nieces and nephews. We’ll have 21 here for Thanksgiving, and tho it’s very crowded in our small house, we all look forward to it. Same numbers on Christmas Eve.
Triplegreen500
Well-Known Member
- Local time
- 1:14 AM
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2020
- Messages
- 12,271
- Reaction score
- 30,918
- Location
- western Maryland
We lost Dad in '16. Moms 88 now and still ornery as ever, she'll probably see 108! She's in FL , I'm in MD. She's got a bf who's a mooch. Lazy mf. Comes to the kitchen in the morning and sits his *** at the table...and waits. For his coffee. For his bagel/muffin. For his meds. For his juice. I get on the mountain bike for a few miles when he mouths off to her, just so I don't drag him into the middle of the road and beat him to death.
It's just me and her. I'm an only child. Got lots of extended fam on her side (her late brothers kids) also in FL, but mom and I are kinda outside their close orbit. I'm close with a couple cousins, but there's 6 cousins and about 98 cousin-kids (grand cousins?) who also have a metric **** ton of kids....and we really aren't that close. Not animosity, just...distance, and differences (career, politics, etc).
I don't have kids. Michelle has 2. Son, married and in NC. Daughter, getting ready to graduate college in TX. Her folks are long gone. One of her brothers just (like, Friday) passed; she has another brother and a sister but similarly...just distant. Not a dislike, just..logistics.
Michelle and I visit my mom annually for "a" holiday, either turkey day or Christmas. Mom won't travel anymore. We have a good time, and we value the time, but the logistics and the distance (and the asshat boyfriend - who mom knows I don't like at all) all conspire to keep it to an annual visit instead of monthly, or semiannually... but, with the passing of Freddy this week and some job changes on my end (3 months working in Miami), things may change in the coming year. I know I'll be visiting Mom more often while I'm down south.
My family was never huge on holidays. Dad was first gen American/German, and very not big on feelings. Mom liked the idea, but never really went nuts with stuff (food, decorations, etc). It was just.... Thursday, or an extra mass. Michelle's used to be, but again - logistics. And, much as she loves cooking and decorating, it's not really worth it for....me. Kids are distant, parents gone, sibs are distant....and cooking for 2 sucks almost as much as cooking for one.
So, we don't really "dread" holidays...they're just logistically challenging due to distances. Mom and I are 100% on the same page politically, and we don't give a **** if anyone disagrees with us, so that part at least is always fun! Even moms bf is learning to keep his trap shut around me about things...I just remind him whose house he lives in, and he all of a sudden "is ready for bed". Mom gets it, but she's a caretaker personality (former nurse/PT) and it's just her default so I let it slide (and have access to all her accounts to keep an eye on things).
It's just me and her. I'm an only child. Got lots of extended fam on her side (her late brothers kids) also in FL, but mom and I are kinda outside their close orbit. I'm close with a couple cousins, but there's 6 cousins and about 98 cousin-kids (grand cousins?) who also have a metric **** ton of kids....and we really aren't that close. Not animosity, just...distance, and differences (career, politics, etc).
I don't have kids. Michelle has 2. Son, married and in NC. Daughter, getting ready to graduate college in TX. Her folks are long gone. One of her brothers just (like, Friday) passed; she has another brother and a sister but similarly...just distant. Not a dislike, just..logistics.
Michelle and I visit my mom annually for "a" holiday, either turkey day or Christmas. Mom won't travel anymore. We have a good time, and we value the time, but the logistics and the distance (and the asshat boyfriend - who mom knows I don't like at all) all conspire to keep it to an annual visit instead of monthly, or semiannually... but, with the passing of Freddy this week and some job changes on my end (3 months working in Miami), things may change in the coming year. I know I'll be visiting Mom more often while I'm down south.
My family was never huge on holidays. Dad was first gen American/German, and very not big on feelings. Mom liked the idea, but never really went nuts with stuff (food, decorations, etc). It was just.... Thursday, or an extra mass. Michelle's used to be, but again - logistics. And, much as she loves cooking and decorating, it's not really worth it for....me. Kids are distant, parents gone, sibs are distant....and cooking for 2 sucks almost as much as cooking for one.
So, we don't really "dread" holidays...they're just logistically challenging due to distances. Mom and I are 100% on the same page politically, and we don't give a **** if anyone disagrees with us, so that part at least is always fun! Even moms bf is learning to keep his trap shut around me about things...I just remind him whose house he lives in, and he all of a sudden "is ready for bed". Mom gets it, but she's a caretaker personality (former nurse/PT) and it's just her default so I let it slide (and have access to all her accounts to keep an eye on things).
Similar threads
