The Fam Bam

It's Christmas...but to be honest with you, I don't really care. No, not scrooge...no Bah Humbug intended. I'm Jewish. But being Jewish doesn't stop me from being with my family on Christmas.....after all, nothing is open and we're kinda stuck with each other.

Tonight I was lucky enough to be invited over to my in laws home for dinner. When I got there, my sister in law (SIL) proudly announced that they were waiting for me to get there and that the fish was in the fridge. Translation: We were waiting for you to get here to cook us dinner. So much for being invited over for dinner. They should have been more clear: "We're inviting you over to cook us dinner!" And just for the record dinner was superb!

Tomorrow, for Christmas day, we were invited to my side of the family for brunch (hey, we're Jews...we eat! It's what we do well) at my sister's house. Going to my sister's house forces me to count my blessings. Her one year old son died earlier this year from a freak accident. An accident and aftermath that no parent should ever experience....ever. I count my blessings more so these days as I look at my children and thank God they are alive and well. Going to my sister's house for family functions also has another blessing perk. I get to see her mother in law (MIL) in action and thank God knowing that I have the best MIL ever - a blessing.

And after my sister's house we will travel to visit my dad who is bed-ridden in a assisted living facility where we will walk into his room and almost vomit from the smell of poop. My dad has MS and he gave up on himself a long time ago. He hasn't made any attempt to better his life, given his circumstances. And so, he lays in bed all day and night and makes in a diaper. And so we put a smile on our faces, open every window in the room and visit him because he is my dad. We'll bring him ice cream because it's his favorite food and maybe even pick him up a pizza with anchovies, olives and a load of Parmesan cheese because it'll make him happy. And the truth is, is that he's my dad and if I can make him happy even for just a brief binging moment in time, then it was my opportunity to give him my love - a blessing.

When all is said and done with my dad, we will head to my mom's house where we will be greeted with stories of her latest travel adventure with her boyfriend. Yep, my mom has a boyfriend! (parents are divorced) We'll get all the details that we didn't ask to hear and we'll smile and nod and then the kids will ask for a cookie at the right time! And then after visiting my mom we will be heading back to the in-laws because they invited us for dinner. Wonder if I will have to cook again.

At the end of the day, what I've come to realize is that my biggest blessing of all is having a family who loves me and accepts me as I am in the first place. A family who remembers my birthday 2 days before Christmas when the rest of the world forgets. A family who admits when my cooking is better than my MIL's cooking....and goes for seconds. A family full of blessings is truly the best blessing anyone could possibly wish for.

Happy Holidays.