The holidays are fast approaching, and I always anticipate them with a sense of dread–because I hate the day after Christmas. There’s all this excitement in the air and then it’s over. I hate that “over” feeling. It sucks the life right out of me. But this year, I’m not looking forward to the holidays in general because of my fractured family.
When I was 20, my parents got divorced. Then both of my parents (for lack of a better term) got remarried to someone new. Now mom and dad have “new” families and I’m left out in the cold. So this year, mom is spending Thanksgiving with her husband and his children while dad is mostly likely spending the day with his significant other and her children. As you can see, that leaves me without family on the day where everyone supposedly sits around the dining table with family gorging themselves on turkey, stuffing, and cranberry concoctions. I know I’m not alone in being alone on Thanksgiving. (At least I’ll see both parents on or around Christmas Day…some people don’t even have that).
So I’ve come to think of Thanksgiving as a day of strategic planning to get the best early morning Black Friday deals. I scour the ads, make a list, and execute a strategy that will enable me to get the best presents at the best prices. Plus, my best friend/roommate will be home on Thanksgiving, so I’m not technically alone. We’re just without our families…on a day when family has come to mean everything. Or at least it would seem from all those Campbell’s Green Bean Casserole commercials.
It’s a bit early to be giving thanks, and I do have a lot for which to be thankful. However, right now I’m not thinking about that; I’m being brutally honest because I know someone out there feels the same way. Whether or not you are caught in the in-between of step-families or just in the lonliest time of your life, I hope you know that you’re not alone. Sometimes it’s enough to just know someone else feels, thinks, experiences the same thing.
She is Beloved 
Well I know how holidays with broken families go. They suck. That’s the end of my story.
and then there’s the other side….the single mom, who raised 3 kids on her own, and sits alone on Christmas, as her kids are spending Christmas with their spouse’s families.
There is too much pressure on Christmas. It’s a family thing, but what if your family is with another family? Then you are alone.
When people at work ask what I’m doing, I have to lie. I don’t want to say I’m all alone.
I wish I loved Christmas like before, but now I dispise it. Plus one of my parents died on the day after. I don’t like this holiday.