On Happiness and Chosen Family
On Happiness and Chosen Family - by Eric Crow 1999 was the first year I was on my own for the holidays. Both my parents died the year before, and I lost touch with the rest of my biological family for a number of years. When losing parents or a spouse or children, the first year is indeed the toughest, and I remember waiting at a bus stop on the way home, fighting to contain my tears (thank God for my love of Celtic music) around the one-year mark of Mom’s passing. In 2007. I’d written to my sister, Gwen, at the last address I had on file, but when I didn’t hear back, I figured she moved and gave it up to “the fates” to decide if we would see each other. Then in 2009, on a whim, I wrote a letter to my Aunt Violet (strangely, I remembered her mailing address even though I hadn’t been to her house in 30 years), asking if she had any information and within a day, I got an email from her. I was super-glad for obvious reasons and we got together a couple times over the n...