thanksgiving

I had to work this Thanksgiving. Actually, I've had to work every Christmas and Thanksgiving for the past seven years. I work in a hospital laboratory so working holidays is standard. I see my parents fairly regularly anyway (they only live 30 minutes away) so missing out on a holiday has never been that big of a deal. I work my ten hours, and if I'm not too tired, I visit my family afterwards. This Thanksgiving I was feeling pretty alert when my shift ended, so I drove out to my parent's house.

When I walked up to their back porch, this is what I saw.

I suppose if my brother was going to torture himself by watching the Cowboys lose again, at least he was doing it with style. I imagined him getting ready for the game to start: putting his jersey on and my father and him carrying that big television outside. So much optimism.

My parents had three of their children and one grandchild visit them for Thanksgiving this year. My parents had five kids. Those kids obtained significant others and (some) had kids. Getting us all together at the same time is a mess. There are obligations to the families of the respective significant other, work, and just plain old conflict. My oldest sister has recently separated from her husband. My middle sister is dealing with having to split her child's first holidays with three sets of grandparents. My youngest sister is currently not on speaking terms with my middle sister. My brother is still upset that I am dating his ex-friend.

And then there's my parents. They greeted me and gave me my annual ornament, just like they have every Christmas for the past 8 years, even though they know I don't put up a tree. They shoveled piles of stuffing and cranberry sauce and turkey into tupperware containers when I said I had to go. My parents are really what keeps our family together. This family started with them and I worry that it will end with them too. Without my parents around, would my siblings and I still find the time to visit each other? All of them? My father hardly ever sees his family, and my mother broke off contact with hers a long time ago. Maybe this slow drifting apart is just the natural way of things as we all start our "own" families.