I've been dating my boyfriend for about 2 years now, and I admit we are almost always together. We cook together, go to the gym together, live together, and go to family functions together.

My family really loves my boyfriend, as his family likes me, but when it comes to the holidays, I always make the same choice: I stay with my family and he goes with his. So why, each holiday, am I bothered when my uncles and grandma ask me where my "other half" is?

Apparently my boyfriend's family asks the same thing. I wouldn't otherwise, but their asking makes me feel guilty for missing their Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas breakfast, but I can't sacrifice the precious time I have with my family for that. Since graduating college, working full-time, and moving out, I have learned not to take time with family for granted.

I finally feel like an adult, and this time with my loved ones allows me to be a kid again - avoiding helping my mom in the kitchen, singing with my dad, jumping on my uncle to wake him up from his nap for dinner, and fighting over the last piece of pie with my brother.

My boyfriend and I have talked about this, and we agree that we will probably never truly spend the holidays with each other because our relationships with our families trumps the guilt or fun it might be to spend the holidays with each others families.