We interrupt this social media newsfeed for An Urgent Holiday Plea:
Catholics! Yes, you, who are bemoaning spending time with extended family this Thanksgiving and dreaming of a small, intimate, nuclear-family gathering. In fact, you're dreaming of creating a nuclear-family-only holiday policy.
KNOCK IT OFF!
Before I was born, my grandmother and her sister, who lived in the same city, had a pow-wow and decided to end the "burdensome" extended family get-togethers at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each family would have their own nuclear family celebrations. No muss, no fuss.
And, soon enough, no family ties. Their grown grandchildren now barely know each other.
Catholics, especially, have no excuse for this. Christmas and Easter are seasons, with Easter lasting seven weeks. Surely you can make some time within those weeks-long seasons to pull together an extended-family holiday celebration, if for no other reason than to encourage your children's relationships with aunts, uncles, and cousins.
If you want to have a nuclear-family-only Thanksgiving, go for it. It's a one-day deal and even a four-day weekend doesn't leave much time for travel. But Christmas and Easter should be times to get together with all of your family.
Thank you for your attention. We now return you to your regularly-scheduled viewing of lolz cats and silly memes.
(Image: Celebratory meal, Pixabay.)
