Merrily we roll along!

The holidays are a funny thing. This is a time when you see family and friends, share your life and stories, eat drink and make with the merry. Then there are those who are much less fortunate. I do not mean the people who don't like going to grandmother's house, but the ones who have been forgotten, made to feel unwelcome, and feel hurt and lonely as a consequence. I don't mean the homeless either, that is another story.

What I am referring to is forgetting the holiday spirit and fashioning the holidays to one's ego rather than opening up their homes and putting their petty squabbles aside. Even if you feel you can't break bread together, having the decency and respect for others to call a truce. Nations can and do do it in the middle of war. I think it's sad that people need to control so much, they forget about what this time of year is about.

This is bad enough I think, but what I think hurts more is the eluding of guilt by others. Family members who call on the way to an event, to drop a line, in order to keep peace with the uninvited. To show they were not the reason, and they do indeed care. I believe if they did care they would do something about having everyone they claim to love under one roof, instead of the cowardice of a 2 minute call, filled with nothing but empty sentiment and rhetoric. They would make a stand and state that it is the holidays and nobody is neglected at this time of year. If not, I believe it would be best if they called after, or the next day, and actually talk about what they want to, to take their time, and converse, instead of a rushed call speaking about what is easy, which amounts to nothing more then an insult.

It is a time of year to remember all family and friends, alive or passed, and the fondness of family and friends. It should be a time for laughing with ease, not walking on egg shells because some unsteady person is insisting things be a certain way, and any disagreement might set them off into crazy land.

To these people to whom I am speaking to, here it is. Let them have their day, you have yours. Go with those who do respect you and care about your well being. Be with those who listen when you speak. Be with those who want you there because it wouldn't be the same without you. They are there, and they are waiting for you with open arms. If not, then I suggest having your own gathering. Pick those you want, forget the ones you don't. Take control of the holidays and make them your own. Enjoy them, because you deserve it. Eat, drink, and be merry. Later you can brag about the fun you had to those who went someplace they really didn't want to be because the atmosphere was so uncomfortable, but they were 'obligated'. Funny how those people need to fool themselves into believing it was a good time, when those left out actually had a great time! Let them eat cake! You have seconds!