Rebecca Meyer
For three years, this 26-year-old woman and her husband, 32, have celebrated Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays at their house with her husband’s side of the family.
Of everyone in the family, she and her husband have the biggest house, so it’s easiest for them to host a lot of people for these get-togethers. They live out in the country, have a large backyard, and have a hobby farm, too.
Another, more tragic reason that she and her husband started hosting holiday celebrations at their house is that three years ago, her husband’s mother passed away.
Understandably, her father-in-law has been deeply grieving and struggling with this loss, and he wasn’t in a place where he could host events at his house. He also hadn’t been in therapy or done anything else to cope with his grief.
After the loss, her husband came up with the idea to host holidays at their house since they had enough space for his big family. And over the years, as other family members had children, the family only grew larger.
She and her husband have two children, and her husband has four siblings. Chad, her brother-in-law, has three children, while her husband’s half sister, Jane, has one child. All of his siblings have partners as well. Also, some of her husband’s aunts, uncles, and several cousins are included in the celebrations, too, so they always have a full house.
“Well, my husband’s half-sister has never been the best at decision-making. From everyday life to her boyfriend selection, Jane doesn’t think most things through. She’s more of an ‘in-the-moment’ kind of person. We were introduced to her daughter’s father after she had announced to us that she was pregnant by him. They had been together for two or three months at the time. Well, they broke up before their baby turned 1. Four months ago, Jane got a new boyfriend,” she said.
Unfortunately, she and her husband have never approved of any of Jane’s boyfriends that they’ve been introduced to. When Jane and her “baby daddy” broke up, she and her husband decided that they would research any guy she decided to date next before allowing future boyfriends to come to holiday gatherings. Jane doesn’t normally let anyone know ahead of time before bringing a new boyfriend to these celebrations.
Evidently, Jane’s “baby daddy” didn’t seem too driven and was pretty immature, so he wasn’t the best father figure since he didn’t seem ready to take care of a family. Other than that, he wasn’t the worst of Jane’s past partners. However, Jane has had a tendency to hang out with unsavory people.
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