Fesitvus

I blogged about Festivus, the Seinfeld made up holiday "for the rest of us" in 2014. I'm glad this blog has a good search feature because I thought I had written posts in other years, too.

So much has changed, yet so much has stayed the same in the past years. It hurt my heart a little as I read about my past grievances with those near death. They have since died. Carin. Andy. And others who were not on the 2014 list. They have not been forgotten.

Thankfully my dad survived surgery in 2014, but was recently in the hospital with the flu (despite getting a flu shot) and is celebrating Christmas in a rehab center as he regains his strength. The family Christmas celebration has been postponed a week and a half to help him gain strength. 

The family member who blew me off at church now replies to my text messages. She moved away so we don't casually bump into each other any more. It still hurts that Ashley grew up with "my" family and "dad's" family. Or rather, mostly just "my" side. It hurts that Don still refers to them as "your" family, until I caught myself saying we got a card from "your" cousins. After three decades they should all be "our."

This year's grievances are against the polarized political system. Not just in the United States, but around the globe. People I once thought of as intelligent who voted for him (or, possibly even worse, smugly voted for neither thus believing they are not responsible for this mess), then think I unfriend them on Facebook due to "politics" when it is because I don't want to lose any more respect for them. He told us he would destroy our nation, and he is. He could have played golf every weekend and taken credit for what President Biden put in place, and we'd be in a much better place. US AID would exist. Scientific research would continue. Tourism would thrive. Non-US citizens would be able to continue to be on the path towards citizenship. Legally. Health insurance would not be skyrocketing. It hurts when I think about how much damage he continues to do every day. It hurts when I think about the checks and balances put in place to stop someone like him snapped. I do see hope, or else I would not be able to get out of bed every day.

I hope your grievances are few and fixable in the New Year.