My family holidays are a real mixed bag. My mom has already informed me she will be drinking heavily to get make it through. She’s only half kidding.My parents separated awhile back. It’s not like War of the Roses or anything. They still celebrate the holidays together, but there is no physical place to call home. My grandparents, who are rather elderly, have taken to hosting holidays at their place. Despite the change in location, my mom continues to take on everything, while my dad stands around and picks his nose. In that sense they still seem married. My brothers and I plan on helping my mom more than ever this year. She deserves a day without worry or guilt.I just learned that my aunt, who suffers from mental illness, has decided to make an appearance at dinner for the first time in years. We never know what she will look like or how she will act. We love my aunt dearly. She is always welcomed. We may not understand everything she is going through, but she is one of us. My grandpa will likely get grumpy if dinner doesn’t start at 2:30pm. He might also regale us with stories of his younger years, and declare how this year might be his last Thanksgiving. Although he’s been calling every big event this year, possibly his last big event, we will continue to eat dinner when it is light outside and listen to his stories without question.It is the first Thanksgiving without my paternal grandma around. She won’t be there to feed the dogs too much stuffing or call one of her grandchildren by the wrong name. This makes us sad. She will always be loved, remembered, and missed. These are the realities of my family. We are not perfect. We’ve all made mistakes. But we accept and love each other. We always find a way to come together. Having family means you shouldn’t spend the holidays alone. My name is Carly. My family is dysfunctional, and I’m cool with that. Now my husband’s family…whew, talk about a bunch of weirdos. ;)HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

November 25, 2009

thelessthandomesticgoddess

6 Comments

  1. Cheap Wife

    November 24, 2009

    My family is filled with a bunch of nutcases also! hahaha
    Hang in there!
    Sounds like you may need to drink right along with your mom! 🙂

  2. honey my heart

    November 24, 2009

    thank you for writing this. it is so fitting for the season. i am tearing up. my family is it's own collection of varying personalities, but i couldn't & wouldn't want it any other way.

  3. Creature Gorgeous

    November 25, 2009

    I'd be afraid of the family that is NOT a little dysfunctional.

  4. Linda

    November 25, 2009

    It's okay, I think all families are dysfunctional in some way, I know mine is!

  5. Mo

    November 25, 2009

    Great post Carly.
    I feel the same way about my family–we have our quirks and it's not always puppies and sunshine, but they're still my family.
    And ditto, the boy's family is totally weird with a completely different set of quirks. Woohoo! =)
    Happy Thanksgiving!

  6. Krista

    November 25, 2009

    My family is weird/dysfunctional, too. So I get it. I'm sorry about your in-laws weirdness – I remember some of your stories about them. Now they sound weird!

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