To those of us who dread being home for the Holidays:
There's a lot of us out there who dread coming home for the Holidays. Whether it's because of a broken family, a judgmental family, or no real family at all. Being the odd one out really comes to light as soon as the holidays come around and when the extended family comes to town.
For some, the Holidays can be the worst time of the year. And trust me when I say, you're not alone.
A memory that will forever stick out in my mind is the Thanksgiving two of my family members made a bet as to when I'd fail college. In front of me, they exchanged bets on my failure. I had a bad track record all through high school so they figured 'Why would college be any different?'. Who does that? What family does that to a 17 year old who is months away from leaving for college? Too many times has this has happened to me, as well as thousands of other young adults around the world.
My mom knew the tattoos were coming by the time I turned 12. I'd spend hours drawing on my arms and legs, even when I got in trouble for it. She knew that when I turned 18, getting tattooed was inevitable. It was the rest of my family I'm still trying to convince. Trying to convince them that it 'isn't just a phase', that I 'didn't do it to be rebellious', and that I'm not a 'bad Christian'. Growing up in a Christian family and going to Christian schools for 14 years, you learn there are certain things you just don't do.
Now that people like me are at the age where they come home for the holidays, it seems like the perfect time to bring the family over to heckle and tease us. The black sheep gets mixed in between all the regular sheep. I began to dread coming home for the Holidays and many other people out there are just like me.
So if you're one of those black sheep, odd balls, or the 'stick out like a sore thumb' kind of person, it's time we stand together. Know that you're not alone and that there's so many other people like you, whose family do the same things too. You aren't alone and you're certainly not the odd one out with us.
