hard holidays

I love my family and for me, the holidays are a time when I can cherish them and appreciate all the little things they do that I find annoying and all the things about them that I love. It's a time to create memories to remember for years to come and to take advantage of the time that we have together. 

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Last christmas I traveled to Old Lyme Connecticut to have my first true family christmas and it was the best christmas I have ever had. It was blissful chaos. With my aunt living only a short drive away some of us stayed at her house while the rest of us stayed at my grandfathers house and together we made up a christmas party of 14. We annoyed the heck out of each other at times, but we had some of the best moments together as well. With 6 cousins to create trouble with, we ran around like crazy folk and explored forests, played pranks, baked cookies, decorated gingerbread houses, and had the time of our lives. 

This past christmas was the last one I will ever have with my grandmother. It has taken her death and her legacy of leaving us with a wonderful family for me to realize what the holidays are supposed to be about. People often get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of preparing everything that they forget to enjoy themselves. No one cares if you ran out of time to bake that last pumpkin pie, or if you forgot to dust the attic. They'll remember the moments that you have together and the memories that you make. Because the sad reality is that we won't be here forever. I would give the world to have one last christmas with my grandmother, even if that meant bunking with my brother so she could have my room, and letting her gripe at me for having my elbows on the table. I love her and I think that we forget that the holidays are about celebrating our love for one another. 

So happy holidays. May your table be filled with food to be shared with the ones that you love and may the holiday music not get to annoying.