Holidays

       -Because today is Good Friday, I decided to share a bit about how hard holidays are  on me emotionally. For plenty of other people as well, I am sure. At Easter, of course, I know that I should primarily be focused on the death and resurrection of Jesus but there are aspects of it, or any  other holiday that I do struggle with.

The main one is that it is such a family time. No matter how good friends people are, when holidays come round, they want to spend time with family. And that is the way it should be. But, if people are not able to spend time with family, for whatever reason., holidays are an extremely lonely time.

I should mention that, here in Long Term Care, they do give us special meals for holidays but it is not the same as the homecooking and fellowship of being  with family.

By far the most difficult holiday for me is Mother's Day. Now that my children are older and would be away from home anyway, it doesn't bother me quite as much as when they were little and I couldn't be with them. I admit that I have found going to church difficult on Mother's Day. Not that I ever thought of not going. I really am glad that the mothers are acknowledged, they deserve it, but it's hard for me to listen to year after year when I have never been able to be  a "real" mother to them. But, like I said, it is easier now that they are older.

As I was writing this, the thought crossed my mind that a lot of holidays have strong Christian connotations. At Christmas it is the birth of Jesus, at Easter it is the resurrection of Jesus and Thanksgiving it is thankfulness to God for harvest. I need to concentrate more on what these holidays really mean and less on  all I miss out on. I wish, though, it was as easy to do as it is to say!

For me, perhaps the best thing about a holiday is that it is soon over and life returns to normal for everybody!