Life Can Disappoint You

Or rather the people in your life can. We have a family tradition in our house that we started when TJ was a baby. Just after Thanksgiving, we put up our Christmas tree, decorate it adding one new ornament per person to the tree while watching "The Polar Express" and drinking hot chocolate. The kids LOVE it and we enjoy watching them.

A few months ago, we added a new addition to our family, a 19 year old boy. He came from a rough home with no male role model and no parental guidance. We have included him in everything we do and told him about some of the traditions we have. Well, just before Thanksgiving, we set the date to decorate. We had to work it so that he would be off from work that day and we could enjoy the time together as a family. Come to find out this week, he has National Guard duty this weekend, but it would be to where he could still be here. Late last night, he informs us that he HAS to play a basketball game with his Sergent.

After trying unsuccessfully to explain to him how important this is for our family, I gave up on the notion of him being here. It has hurt me deeply that he would choose to play a game that he could play any other time rather that be with us as our family. I realize that growing up, they didn't do stuff together as a family and have traditions, but I foolishly thought that after being with us for 6 months that he would begin to see and appreciate the family bond that we share and have accepted him into. It hurts me, but I can't change the way he had been raised for over 19 years either and expect him to understand all that we do within a short period of time.