Secret Santa Journal [link]













I'm a bit sad... while actually kinda more than a bit.
This week my parents, niece and I were to go to Houston to spend the holiday with my third eldest sister. Even though it's a bit stressful, I do enjoy spending time with my family on thanksgiving.
My niece needed to work the day we were to leave, so I stayed behind while my parents left so I could keep her company while she drove to Houston the same night. That day, while getting my stuff together, I get a call from my brother who was upset about spending the day alone. He'd told us he was spending it with some friends, but they apparently canceled on him. Talking it over with my niece, we felt bad about leaving him all alone, so the two of us decided to stay behind so we could spend Thanksgiving with him instead of going to Houston. He then tells us his friend rescheduled, so he was going to have lunch with them, then we'd be able to get together later on to spend time with him like we originally planned.
Sounds okay, right?
So, today my niece and I were sitting around, waiting and my niece's ex-fiancé was super, super nice and invited us to have Thanksgiving lunch with his family. They were all so sweet and treated us really well. Oh my god, I HATE carrots...
HATE them, but shit dude, his brother's wife made some awesome homemade carrot cake. I actually ate a whole slice by myself.
My niece and I stayed there, waiting for my brother's call. An hour passed, then two. Sent him a text and asked what was up, said he just finished eating and was going to chill there for a few minutes and he'd call in a bit. Another hour passed.. and another.. and another. We waited for at least four hours without a word from my brother. Eventually, I told my niece we should go because I already felt like I was imposing on their kindness enough already after they fed me and let me stay there so long. It was late by then and we were hungry, so we get a quick bite at IHOP then, eventually, head home.
Halfway there, I get a text from my brother:
"What are you doing"
"Heading home."
"Mom and dad are there you know"
"I know. They told me."
"Have fun"
And that was it. Nothing else, so, we were pretty much ditched by my brother. We missed out on having am awesome dinner and a good time with our own family to spend time with him because we felt sorry. He ditched us to spend time and, more than likely, get high with his friends instead.
So yeah. I'm a bit hurt and a bit pissed, but I guess being either won't do me much good.... wish I'd seen this coming ahead of time though. Teach me to actually really expect something from family. Usually I expect nothing to avoid disappointment.