family

as thanksgiving and christmas approach, it's natural for me to think about family.  when i was younger we always went to my dad's side of the family for a big thanksgiving.  the adults sat in one room at a big, long table and the kids sat in the kitchen together.  there were always a lot of people there.  after my parents divorced we would sometimes make the drive to tennessee to have thanksgiving with my aunt and uncle on my mom's side of the family.  though it was smaller, we still always enjoyed ourselves with the typical thanksgiving feast.

on christmas eve, we would always go to my grandma h's house.  all the aunts, uncles, and cousins would meet there at some point throughout the evening.  the adults would typically play cards and we cousins always found something to keep us entertained.  there was a rotating schedule of who would put baby jesus in the nativity scene in the picture window before we headed to midnight mass.  on christmas day we always woke up at home to see what santa brought us.  later in the day we would make visits at grandma h's and also grandma and grandpa a's.  because we were the only grandchildren that lived in wabash, sometimes the day we celebrated christmas with g&g a would be altered.

family was always important part of our family traditions.  as i've grown older, many of those traditions have changed.

thanksgiving has been an important day for g's family.  because of that, we often went to his mom's house where various family members would join us.  a few years ago we started a new tradition.  we began hosting thanksgiving in chicago the saturday after thanksgiving.  because of our schedules, we found that day worked the best for all of us.  though housing everyone has posed a problem at times, we've definitely enjoyed having both of our families share our home with us.  we're looking forward to having everyone in our home for thanksgiving this year, too.

christmas has always been a difficult holiday to coordinate.  i remember celebrating the first christmas with g and his family.  it was also the first time in my life that i did not wake up at my mom's house on christmas morning.  though i was happy to be celebrating christmas with g and his family, it was a new feeling.  after opening gifts in ohio, we made our way to indiana to celebrate christmas with my family.  for five years, we've made the drive around the midwest to celebrate with both families.  while it's exhausting and a lot of driving, we're happy to be able to be with both families over christmas.  

it's all about family, creating new traditions, and making things work to be with those you love during the holiday season.  though things have changed throughout my life, i enjoy celebrating the holidays with loved ones.