For the first 2 years of my life, I shared Christmas with my mom and dad. I was living about half an hour from where I was born which was Gainesville, Florida. I don’t remember much of those two years but my mom and dad separated and luckily mom remarried a man who I now proudly call, “dad.” Dad has been awesome and for the next 20 years of my life he helped me become the person I am today. I’ve never spent a Christmas away from my family and have capture family Christmases in photograph since I got my first digital camera in 2003.
This year, I’m spending Christmas away from family. I thought I had enough strength to get through it but it’s actually getting pretty difficult to deal with. I know that I’m not stuck in Iraq or in the hospital with a terminal illness but I am across country without any way to get home so, to me, it’s still pretty distressing.
This year, I planned on going home for Christmas but the issue with moving to a new place this month and paying over $1000 on a plane ticket to Jacksonville, Florida was too much for my budget. I do everything I can to cut costs and save money but it would take one month’s rent to go home for Christmas Laura and I ($2000) so we decided to go home in January. Tickets for the middle of January are only $150 round trip, which is what I am used to spending, and it’s a lot easier on the wallet.
There are some traditions that I’ll be missing this year but I’ll just have to deal. Christmas cookies with family dipped in soymilk is one of them. Going out to the beach the day after Christmas with family and Misogi that I’ll be posting as a separate blog post. My grandmother drives down from Alabama to see us and I spend Christmas with family all over Florida over a 1 week span. Instead, Laura and I are here with the other San Francisco orphans. We’re doing karaoke on Christmas Eve with friends, Christmas day I’ll be working on my Twitter Book with Dom and the day after Christmas will be a relaxing day biking around North Bay.
I’m doing what I can to make Christmas a little easier but I do miss my family and so does Laura. I attached some photos from Christmas in 2004 of my sisters and our family.
