re: What is yalls mood as you move into the holidays?

I love the holidays themselves. I like to decorate for Christmas and watch Christmas movies. I enjoying cooking for Thanksgiving and spending time with my Grandmother in particular who is 86. While one side of the family will celebrate Thanksgiving the Saturday after, I’ll get to cook for another part on Thanksgiving and I’m excited for that.

Unfortunately, my Grandfather, Brother, and Mom all passed between the week before Thanksgiving through the middle of December. And there’s a constant reminder of those losses for me in their absence. And this year just feels worse due to family things going on.

My Dad is also a terrible person who goes out of his way to try to make this time of year difficult and it has escalated in the three years since my Mom passed. I can’t go full no-contact because he is still invited to family events. But it drives my anxiety through the roof to deal with him and makes it just so uncomfortable.