Going Home For The Holidays - The Family Twlight Zone

O it’s that time of the year again.  The time of deep religious significance that seems to be demonstrated by the ever-increasing spending of money no one has on things no one really needs.  In the true spirit of the season people are trampled on Black Friday in a fight to buy the 3 big screen televisions being offered at WalMart. (http://www.uncoveror.com/blackfriday.htm)  Camping takes place in the rain and throughout the other significant holiday, Thanksgiving, in order to accomplish this.  Every household in America prepares a similar meal.  Everyone overeats, complains about it, and then continues to overeat throughout the rest of the holiday season.

 ‘Tis the season to be jolly.  And yet, families must make their way through sometimes jolly sometimes scary get-togethers because tradition demands we do so.  Those whose families live far away or no longer speak to them create family-like groupings to satisfy the tradition. 

I recently watched for a second time the film, Pieces of April.  It is the perfect movie about families.  No glazing over the dysfunction, disappointment or fear. It’s all there in every family member even as they make a giant effort to finally create the normal Thanksgiving day.  Each of them struggles with the past as well as the present, each yearning for a way to finally be seen as special.  The errant daughter has been written off for years but even she makes a truly heroic effort at following the American tradition, dropping the raw turkey, discovering that the oven is broken, attempting to mash the raw potatoes.    She is heartwarming in her uneducated efforts.  Her family slogs its way toward her tenement stopping several times to question if they should turn back while they still can, assuming the day will be a disaster, that she will ruin things again. 

 I won’t write a spoiler here, I’ll just say that those around the daughter, people of different backgrounds and traditions provide her with the support she needs withholding any judgements. 

And so we show up year after year, some still yearning to be seen as special, some expecting the worst, other lucky ones truly happy to share the holidays with those they hold dear.  Maybe this can be the year free of expectation, grateful to still have family and friends, satisfied with whatever gifts are given.  Maybe it can be an opportunity to act like a family for someone who could use one.  A time to establish new traditions that mean more than the worn out ones.  Could happen. You never know.