Never have I ever

IC XC
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NI KA

DISCUSSING HOLIDAY THINGS With my Men’s Group, which is a small, self-selected group, I know. None of us have had the Dreaded Holiday Showdown ever at any holiday meal. I’m not sure about my friends, but there were times when Mom had nearly 60 people over for big holiday meals. My Grandparents had more. And a few times my maternal Grandfather hosted us plus his inlaws from his second marriage. My liberal Protestant mainline family merging with his Fundamentalist Southern Baptist family. Not even then. My Mom was on the New York State Democratic Committee when her sister was on the California State Republican Committee – during the Reagan Administration! Nope, not even then. I don’t really like some members of my family, can’t really being myself to hang out with them 363 days a year, but Thanksgiving and Christmas are about more than what I like or can handle – and they know it too. Family first. There are many other days for politics.

And ultimately, if the family comes first, even the other 363 days a year it’s possible to be family better than a TV sitcom. It means swallowing pride. It means being peaceable. It means being rather adult even when others may not want to be. But in the end, it’s a lot more fun for everyone.

The only talking point is love.