Reflecting on Family Gatherings

What is your experience when you get together with your extended family for Thanksgiving or other occasions? What does it "feel" like? Does it feel warm and loving, cool and distant, or maybe somewhere in between?

Sometimes, I feel like visiting with the extended family over the holidays is like waiting in the dentist's office and trying to strike up a conversation with fellow patients. Sometimes the conversations are pleasant, or you read something that is interesting, but the main goal is to get out of there as soon as possible. There is a shared anxiety in the room, yet not everyone is there for the same reasons. Some of the patients are experiencing more pain or about to have more pain inflicted upon them than others.

With my family, there are so many back stories going on. Maybe I am overly sensitive, but I usually feel like I am being "projected" upon. Regardless of what conversations go on, or how everyone is doing, the food is usually very good.

Someday, it will be my house where my three children, their spouses, and their children will come visit. My vision is for that day to be full of love, affirmations, and deep conversation. I would like to visit with each of my children and let them know how proud I am of them and encourage them in some way. I would like to love on my grandchildren and let them know that my place is a house of love. And of course, there will be good food.