I loved my friends, but there are times when I want to be home and not run around.
Christmas is one of those times, and last year, they invited themselves to stay with me over Christmas. I resented their thinking it was okay to invade my home when I was with my parents for the holidays. They thought it was so cool to be there, and be in a family situation, which I couldn’t understand. I thought all families shared the holidays together. The only time I remember not having the entire family together for the holidays was when my brother was in Iraq. There were times when my dad would be out working on someone’s HVAC system so they had a furnace for Christmas. There was one time when he helped my uncle put in a fireplace so he had a chimney for Santa to come down, but that was all family. When my brother came home, it was a perfect Christmas. My friends and I were talking about our most memorable Christmases when mom walked in. She reminded me of when dad had to go out to work on a fireplace. The dad got stuck in the chimney, and he had to help get him out. My one friend started to cry and said we had such amazing stories. She hadn’t seen her mom or dad in over ten years. They all had similar stories, and I suddenly felt bad for not wanting them around. Although my dad being an HVAC technician took him away often, we still always had a family Christmas in spite of his job.