Faltering and Recovering On The Road

Yikes! What a kick-off to the holiday road trip!

Everything was ahead of schedule and going smooth until lunch. Our "to-go" order at the bustling local burger joint took longer than expected and leaving the restaurant we drove into a toxic road rage situation.

Unfortunately the hubby responded in kind and the ensuing 60 seconds were horrendously uncomfortable, tense, and scary.

Over half-an-hour down the road I had finished my lunch and was cleaning up when I felt the stress of the road rage incident descend upon me. The hubby noticed my comfort measures and asked why I was tense, claiming that he was "over" the incident.

Once he convinced me to share my emotions we found ourselves in a rather intense discussion about his road rage (rare episodes a few times a year) and the origins or his anger.

Next thing you know I'm navigating his emotional arteries and digging out decades of emotional trauma to substantiate my claim that he has unresolved anger causing his road rage outbursts.

Long, complicated story short, I ended up breaking him down. Abandonement, betrayal, pain, hope, the whole shebang, oozing into the daylight. All this while speeding along the freeway in holiday traffic. Kinda dramatic but there it is.

(FYI not the best policy to incapacitate your driver mid-driving)

Around the holidays we love seeing our families and always look forward to Thanksgiving at his parents'. Unfortunately lack of family togetherness can be accented during the holidays and no matter how happy his parents are to see us or us them, we all think of those that aren't around.

Every family has different traditions and not all families can be together at the holidays, but the weight of so much left unsaid, pain and love, can make any day harder. Especially "family" days.

Be thankful for what you have and whomever you have to share it with! Always keep hope and love alive in your heart, practice acceptance, forgiveness, and charity. Never be afraid to care.

It doesn't matter how far apart your family is during the holidays as long as they are in your heart.