By the time you read this, it’ll just be a few days shy of Christmas. The kids will be out of school, work will have slowed to the pace of a sloth and people all around Squamish will be preparing their gifts and holiday gatherings.
As my colleague hilariously pointed out last week, these holiday gatherings can be rather stressful or, dare I say, dysfunctional. Perhaps the turkey will be overcooked, maybe Uncle John will have one too many eggnogs, or Cousin Fred shows up late, empty-handed and spoils the ending to Avatar 2.
Dysfunction is certainly not beyond my family or me — I could tell you the great tale of the rotten Christmas turkey, but I’ll save that for a separate column. And weirdly, that’s the holiday magic that should be cherished.
Setting aside the merits of B.C.’s handling of the pandemic, in 2020, we were all shuttered away by ourselves, Zooming and FaceTiming loved ones from afar. Leaning into the abnormality of the situation, my partner and I decided to just make Super Bowl food on Christmas because who were we trying to impress? And let me tell you, nachos are pretty fantastic on Christmas morning.
Then, in 2021, the Omicron strain of COVID-19 spread rapidly throughout Canada and personally wreaked havoc on our holiday plans as I spent the majority of my time in isolation.
Whether or not you’re choosing to get together with family this holiday season or just spending time with your immediate family or friends, the good ol’ regular dysfunction that comes along with that is far more enjoyable and special than what we’ve recently endured.
And although that dysfunction can cause some grievances or strife, I’m just happy that we can have anything at all.
Take it from someone who recently saw their family (me, this guy!), which didn’t go nearly as planned (my 18-month-old niece at one point tried to pull the tail off her cat while she joyfully laughed). The visit was amazing. It was hilarious. It was awesome.
It was perfect.
So maybe you’re looking at your family with a bit of nervousness, trying to predict what could go wrong. But in all my years of living, I’ve never met a family that wasn’t dysfunctional in some sort of hilarious way. If you’re passing me on the street, just ask me about the time my dad had to return some new pots and pans on Christmas Day.
We could easily look at that and frown, get embarrassed or shy away from acknowledging our own idiosyncrasies. But I think those little things make all of our families unique and that’s something to cherish as 2022 comes to a close.
