The Thanksgiving holidays have just ended with much hoopla, overeating, fuss and bother. My adult children spent the actual day at their in-laws and informed me that they would be coming to my place on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Anything my two dear, dear children say is fine with me and I will accommodate them any way possible, so I pulled out all the stops and put on a spread that would rival the Pilgrim's original event.
However, there is one issue that I feel incumbent on me to address. There was some obligation on the kid's part to pay a visit to me since I was all alone and in their estimation in need of company because it was a holiday. I heard this story from other people who reported feeling coerced into spending the holiday in the company of relatives, friends, casual acquaintances, anyone so as not to be alone. When it comes to holidays, there seems to be a stigma against solitude.
Yes, we are social human beings but what is so wrong with solitude during the holidays? What is so wrong with us determining our own who, what, why, when, where and with whom? One man told me he had to appear at his sibling's house and did so to show his face and keep peace. In actuality he would have preferred his TV programs, his animals, his speciality food and his solitude. Another reporter said that she did not want to travel and accepted a gracious invite from her landlord. She was able to set the time limit of her visit and showed up in comfy slippers and casual attire.
A message to those folks who feel extreme sensitivity and pity toward others who have no where to go and no one to visit during the holidays: Listen to us when we tell you that we don't look forward to the noise, excessive food and overeating. If I sound like a social misfit, then so be it. There seems to be a growing number of folks who want to have the holidays their way, in solitude. Nothing wrong with that.
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