#reverb16 // Day 8 // Griswolds

Sarah, Meredith, Kat and I are hosting the #reverb16 December challenge with daily writing prompts for the whole month! You can join in anytime by finding our Facebook group. Use the #reverb16 hashtag when posting on social media so we can find you!

The Griswolds. Family is everything- a gift, a struggle, an unpredictable mess. Give us your Griswolds story that would end in #wearethegriswolds

Me and my brother celebrating Christmas 2007 in the fabulously decorated home of my former in-laws.

I always always wax poetic over Christmas. Christmas can do no wrong. No family fight or disagreement of any kind has ever occurred on Christmas. LOL. This isn't true for anyone, not even me, but I tend to forget all the bad stuff and just remember the good.

There is one Christmas on record that I remember vividly and it was the Christmas right before my ex-husband and I announced our separation to our respective parents. You see, my former mother-in-law was one of my best friends and we shared our love for Christmas like true mother and daughter, dancing around to Christmas music, decorating at each others' houses, gifting each other new beautiful ornaments (year round).

We decided to get separated and subsequently divorced around Thanksgiving. But, my ex desperately wanted to wait until after his mom's favorite time of year so as not to ruin her festive spirit. I loved her too much to disagree with him. And selfishly I wanted that last holiday to tell her at every opportunity I had that I loved her dearly and I never wanted her to forget it. I may have said it so often she knew something was happening- like I had some secret disease and wouldn't be around much longer.

The day of Christmas was excruciating, though. I was upset the whole day. My parents and brother always came into town so we could all spend the holiday together, and of course they did not know either. I actually could really have cared less about what my family thought about the divorce, and was far more concerned with my mother-in-law. She noticed my distress. I reassured her that I just had a headache. I clung to her. I cried in private several times throughout the day. It was the only Christmas day that I ever hated.

The day after, my ex told his family and I told mine. And That was That. I thought Christmas would be ruined for me forever. But, as I said previously, I tend to remember the good, and Christmas can do no wrong. So for me, Christmas lives on as the best holiday of the year. I say a secret prayer to myself every year that is also the case for her.

#reverb16 #Reflect