Merry Christmas!!

I never thought I was much of a holiday person. Maybe I was as a child, but as I grew up the novelty wore off and it became more of a chore than anything else. Shopping for gifts, figuring out what to do for dinner, dealing with all your relatives - all at one time... what a pain in the ass. But, then I realized something... for the past 10 years (since I moved into Hell, FL) I haven't felt like I've had a real Christmas. I miss the cold. I miss the snow. I miss having ALL of my family around yelling and screaming over pork and moro. I miss following my older cousins around as if they were the coolest things since peanutbutter and jelly. I miss my silly uncle giving me wet-willies, because he knows how much I DESPISE having wet ears. I even miss my mean, smelly uncle (who has since passed away), who was just a pain in the ass. Although the family I have here is my immediate family, it just didn't seem the same. Our dinners now start early and end early and there aren't many people present. However, even with having less family around, in the past ten years the few of us that are here have created new traditions. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve we go to my grandmas, and have turkey and pork, with all the Cuban side dishes. My grandfather and uncle sit in front of the tv watching some sporting event, while the rest of us gossip and bitch about everyone else in my family who aren't there to defend themselves. Eventually, my cousin waddles his tubby ass over to the old-guy-infested couch to watch sports and we continue in the gossip/bitching, while eating that 3rd peice of Flan that our fat, Cuban asses don't really need. It may not sound like much, but it's our tradition. Moral of the story: traditions change. People change. Life changes. As much as I love my family and being with them for the holidays, if there was an extenuating circumstance or a reason that I couldn't make it to grandma's for a holiday dinner, I think they'd understand and be ok with it. They wouldn't be upset or not speak to me. They'd deal with it and move on. Not being there doesn't mean I love them any less, so they shouldn't love me any less for ditching them one year. I'd love to one day spend Christmas in Paris. Hopefully they won't be upset by this.

On that note, when I grow up and have a family of my own, maybe the tradition can be for my family (and hopefully my husband's) to come to our home to have dinner for some of the holidays. Because, again, traditions change. I guess we'll see..