Yuletide reflections

Aah, Christmas... Why does it have to be so awful? Why this obsession with "home for the holidays" and "family togetherness"? For my family, that just seems to make things worse. My mom seems stuck with a lose-lose situation. If we aren't home (like for Thanksgiving), she becomes depressed. The holidays are a time for families, and she's stuck alone... But us coming home is little better, probably worse, actually. The fortunate twin, Jenny, escapes and spends as much time as possible with her friends. Alas, I've not been so good at keeping up with people, and those I'd like to see are either not around or busy with their own lives and families. So I become surly and withdraw into my room. Both of our resonses serve only to depress our mom as well. If you ask me, it'd be better for us to stay 3000 miles away. That way we'd at least be happy. She'd be unhappy either way, so we might as well have her thinking fondly of us, rather than have us here but wishing we were different... better... So maybe future Christmas presents should be a freedom from us... A witholding of presence as a present =D. (John and I like to joke around about breaking up. I don't know why. Another manifestation of my quest for disfunctionality, I suppose. I quipped that a joy of breaking up would be freedom from the stress of getting him a Christmas present. His ready response was that such a break up would be the Christmas present. Quite the comic, that one =). )

John just laughs at me when I complain about dealings with my mother. His family is so bizarre as to truly like each other. He gets along splendidly with both of his parents, who are still married to each other, and his brothers are his heroes. Needless to say, neither of us can fathom the other's background =). But as unamicable as my family is, I wouldn't say we're disfunctional... There is certainly much worse. We're probably just normal, as sad as that might be.