(no subject)

I'm not really feeling flirty, I just like this particular mood pic.

I have a whole long post brewing, about holidays and discovering what they're supposed to be like only after you're an adult. But I don't have the time to post just now. All I will say is that I'm looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with friends who are more like family than my siblings are.

The holiday post

In the previous post, wafflelips wrote "Wait, I thought holidays were about drunken relatives, family angst, and finding a way to get away from the family."

Well, in my family they're about stressing over the preparation and diverting energy into making five times as much food as necessary. They're about everyone yelling at each other until the meal is over and they can find a place to sneak off. They're about praising family bonds then never making any attempt to connect on anything but the most base level. They're about feeling alone and like a stranger in a house full of people wiith the same surname.

Growing up, I never understood the point of Thanksgiving; after I stopped focusing on getting a bunch of loot for Christmas I realized I didn't understand it either. Everybody talked about family togetherness and spending time together during the holidays. I thought that was a load of bull. In my experience, it certainly was.

It wasn't until recently, when I found a new family of people that I really do connect with that I understood why people travel halfway across the country just to spend time during the holidays. I would travel anywhere to be with these people; I can't say the same for my siblings.

Tonight, two very dear friends will be arriving from Tucson. We'll spend the holiday together, reconnect, talk, eat, and enjoy each other's company. On Thursday I will be very thankful for them and for their love and support.

I get it now.

Reproduced from commondreams.org

( Piety's Ruse: Invoking Sanctity to Label Different as Second Class )