Just got home from an extended family gathering. Happens mebbe twice a year. Once around Christmas, and once around the New Year. Sorta a yearly tradition of sorts.
Not that they’re fun things. They can be. But as most family gatherings go, the usual questions get asked, and the usual fraying of nerves occur.
This year’s is stranger than most. My third uncle has stage IV lung cancer, and has been undergoing chemotherapy for it for the last year or so. Things… seem to be under control for the moment, but… *shrugs*. It’s his birthday today, and he decided to call for the gathering at a vegetarian restaurant nearby. I notice that, by some strange stroke of luck, I’ve always been able to attend these gatherings… but I’ve always been… post-call. *sighz* Talk about Murphy’s law…