Family

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Saw a post on Twitter from someone in the Midwest. She said that her family has been in a year-long battle about the inheritance and that her uncle showed up at the family Christmas gathering with a to-go container.

He filled it with food, didn’t say a word to anyone, and left.

They saw him eating in his truck, and then he peeled out and left.

Made me laugh.

Yet the battle is real for a lot of families. I don’t quite understand how it gets that crazy.

There are a lot of political in-family squabbles as well. Many members of the same family don’t quite see eye-to-eye on Covid and vaccinations which is a whole ‘nother problem.

Having a get-together is a tad risky right now anyway. When you aren’t sure who might not be vaccinated it’s even worse, but of course, the unvaccinated are quite vocal about how stupid you are to do it.

There’s not a whole lot of fighting on either side of our family.

My philosophy on it is to just not comment. If an inflammatory text is going ‘round, I’ll simply ignore it.

It isn’t worth it.

Especially arguing with siblings.

You shared a freaking swing set with those people. What can possibly drive a wedge through that?

Arguing about politicians?

When people are asked about the most important part of their lives they’ll always answer, almost automatically:

“Family.”

Then they show up to the party with a to-go-container!

Fight each other over immigration or taxes or religion.

Kind of crazy.

The best part of our Christmas?

It’s a tie between sitting with my Mom for a nice, long visit. She made us laugh. Kept asking why we bought her so many presents.

“It’s crazy. You kids should all keep your money.”

Then.

The boys were gathered around the tiny tree we had set up at the kitchen table.

Back and forth they went. One joke after another. A couple of old stories.

I sat back and listened. They’re brothers and friends. They’ve never battled too severely to stop talking to one another, and it brings what my Dad always said to the forefront:

“Friends will come and go. You’ll always need your brothers and sisters.”

Not sure what kind of fight could ever cause me to bring a to-go-container to a family outing…

…but you gotta’ give that guy credit.

A ballsy move.

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