"Both sides of our family live thousands of miles away, making it difficult for us to get together. It was usually just the four of us celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas in our home each year. We opened up the holidays to friends and friends of friends, and wouldn't go back to the way things were. A 28-year-old international college student lives in our home in the suburbs of New York City. He's smart, fun, hilarious, and very low-maintenance."
"So, when he made a big deal of asking me a favor last month, I was surprised to see his face looking so serious. He seemed to choose his words carefully, "Would it be OK if one of my friends came for Thanksgiving?" "Of course," I said, without hesitation. Then I gently scolded him for thinking, even for a second, that I might say "no.""
"I've only spent Christmas with my family 3 times in the past 20 years. There are complex reasons for this, which other immigrants like me to the US might find easier to understand. First, there has been a 3,000-mile distance between my father, mother, sister, and brother-in-law and me ever since I moved to the US from my native UK in May of 2005."
Both sides of the narrator's family live thousands of miles away, so holiday celebrations were usually limited to the household of four. The household began inviting friends and friends of friends, which made Thanksgiving and Christmas more lively and varied. A 28-year-old international college student living with the family asked to bring a friend for Thanksgiving and was warmly welcomed. The narrator has spent Christmas with their biological family only three times in twenty years due to a 3,000-mile separation after moving from the UK in 2005. The husband's family also lives far away, contributing to infrequent extended-family gatherings.
Read at Business Insider
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]