Family Gatherings

The tiniest excuses can bring them on. Birthdays, holidays, graduations, weddings. You name it and they have a chance of being there. Even vacations can make them come running. Results are varied and definitely not guaranteed.  They produce smothering relatives, relatives you haven't seen in years and of course the drama that everyone likes to pretend isn't there. In my book, the less people that are there the better it is for all of us. But hey, I can't say I always get my way with things all of the time.

Anyway, this special occasion is the birthday of my maternal grandmother. She turned seventy five on Thursday.

It should be a small thing this time. I don't know, though. There's my aunt, who can be a little histrionic to say at the least. And, of course, there's my grandmother herself. As loving as she is, her comments can be a little embarrassing to say at the least.  I don't know about everyone else but....

There's usually so many people. So many. Take, for example, the people at our house. I think I said this when Thanksgiving came around but... I do NOT like a bunch of new people coming around my house. It gives me the creeps. I don't know why but it does. It's loud and noisy and I have to interact with a bunch of people all at once.

And then, of course, there's the kissy people and the small talk. The kissy moments are more of a grin-it-and-bear-it kind of thing but I suck at small talk. I suck big time at small talk. Of course, every once in a while I actually have a deep, intellectual conversation (not with anyone on my mom's side, of course. Usually this happens with my Uncle Billy, who is my dad's brother) but that's not the norm. A lot of the time I honestly don't know what to say to people so I feel like I have to run and hide.

My issue with small talk honestly does not compare to drama. Oh, the drama! My family members are some of the most dramatic people in the world and they can stir up a lot of different crap. People say stupid things and get people pissed off or in fights, new situations are brought up that people didn't know about, old family resentments are brought up... All sorts of lovely things. Oh and of course, my cousin is getting married and weddings bring a whole different kind of drama (my sister and I can't go to the party because they don't want to pay for us. That made my grandma angry but I don't care. I just won't go to the wedding).

I love my family, of course, but I much rather prefer them in small doses. That way the sanity of everyone can best be preserved and no one ends up too pissed off. They're much easier to handle that way.

This is rather small, of course. It's also over my family's house instead of my grandmother's much smaller one so I won't be as claustrophobic. But still. Who knows? There's always that risk of family members inviting myself or my aunt inviting them over (she's that kind of person).  I can already imagine it quadrupling. Ahhh!!!

It will probably be fine. Like I said, it's small. Still... I'll be prepared.