The Holiday Season As One Gets Older

Official Start Time: 6:30 p.m.
Date: 11/28/08
Official End Time: 7:25 p.m.

I've been doing a lot of thinking this holiday season and a scary thought has been creeping into my mind. One that I knew would eventually come but would resent to accept.

The last few days haven't exactly been the happiest days. The holiday season in my family typically brings more pain than happiness. The pressure and emotions that get accumulated in that week alone are strong enough to break apart any family today. Yet something continues to bring us back together.

Once the table is set and the food is ready, middle ground is met. We begin to eat and the peace begins to set in. Each bite eases away the pain but brings us closer to the everyday argument that makes life so "special". This holiday season there was no turkey. The reason shall remain unnamed but the affects were well felt. The unity and peace that Thanksgiving dinner usually brings to my home didn't happen this time. We grew apart. It was almost just another day; a day that I never wish had to come true.

We (me and my brother) had talked about it before. We knew the day would one day come as we grew apart and started to live our own lives. But there were still blanks that needed to be filled in. Would this mean the end to our family? Would we lose contact completely? I'd like to think that we would break apart into our own lives but remember where we came from. That we wouldn't forget the core that once held us together. But you can't have everything you want. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the things you value most. A phone call, an email, a text message may one day replace that dinner that brought middle ground.

I'd like to think that as you get older, things only get better. They do but something gets lost in the process. We get lost in our work. We forget those around us and who can blame us. We're fighting two battles when we barely have the energy to fight one. It all comes down to adapting to the changes that life throws your way and accepting the things you cannot change. Even if it hurts.

The light at the end of the tunnel is what will justify the sacrifices that were made. There is no perfect balance to this equation but I'd like to think that the ends justify the means and the sacrifices we make weren't made in vein.

Sincerely, Hector Guzman
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