Family Time

There's a scene in the movie "Love Actually" where the aging pop star explains to his manager that "At Christmas, you want to spend time with the people you love." I've always been sort of a family-oriented guy, so I'm happy to have time to spend with my family here in Plano.

It used to be everyone would come home for the holidays, but the past few years, that hasn't been possible. With the growth of the extended family with spouses and soon, children, home isn't the destination that it's been. More and more, the house I grew up in has become a nice place to visit, but it's not home just because everyone can't be here.

We're already evolving away from the great big event that I remember from the holidays of my youth, and that makes me sad. With only four people, the gift exchange went kind of quickly.
The days are gone when meals would last the whole day, the rounds of eating separated by sporting events or movies. I found myself not fighting to watch what I wanted, but watching anything I wanted, because no one was around to fight with.

Yeah, we get on each other's nerves when there are more than four of us around, but what family doesn't? But to tell the truth, this year it wasn't the same, and I wish everyone else was here too.