Heather has a Bachelor's Degree in English from Moravian College and has been freelance writing for more than 12 years.

Holidays time for thanks and hanging out with loved ones

Around a large dark oak table stuffing your face

Full of delicious home cooked meal extravaganzas

That took hours or a few days to prepare

Learned to accept that mothers always want

What was best for their children no matter how old

They end up becoming or wherever they end up

Fathers exerted their opinions whether they were warranted or nor

Brothers and sisters fighting over the last crescent roll

Children bonding over the desert table

Playing games and laughing at their own jokes

For some, family visits are a source of joy

For others, it's a constant source of stress

Wondering what each visit will end up being like

Sweating over the status of their career and ending a relationship

Instead of bonding with their parents and cousins

Hippies tended to focus on what was important

Relationships and not the status quo of these things

Material possessions and needs never important

Love only thing that mattered in the end

Okay, they needed to focus less on their appearance

Object of obsession for many glamour pusses

Had the right idea in turning to compassion and not objectification

Sometimes disagreed with the conservative faction of the family

Tended to stick with light holiday topics to avoid warfare

When it comes to family dynamics, less is always more

Never dwell on the negatives for too long

Ruined the positives before they got off the ground

Enjoying the effects of good Turkey, stuffing and conversation

Led to some laughter and exasperation at the same token

Better to choose your family and love the one you're born into

Hard to fathom to get the best of both worlds, but it's known to happen

Embrace your loved ones for all you got, because nothing lasts forever

People come and go in work and in life

Make the most of them while they're in your life

Take them shopping, listen to their stories and share the last crescent roll

Even if you don't want to do so

Best to do that just in case it's your last holiday with them

No regrets of any kind.