Christmas this year will be very different!

Without Nonno we only have the eldest son who will preside over our family celebration of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Nonna will seem like an older helper with the festivities 🥳 with the way my aunt gets under her skin by trying to be at the centre of everything. Yes, there are some undercurrents in the family. My aunt doesn’t live with my uncle at the farm, or certainly she hasn’t because of the way she has been challenged by my Nonno.

My Papa is very much like his father, and so she will be on her back heels around him if she has a very disrespectful attitude towards my Nonna. My father doesn’t pull his punches, and the fact she has suspicious family members who have been investigated by the Carabinieri will figure in his attitude towards her. I am also not going to put up with any of her shit! 💩

I’m certain that Edoardo will get a very strong idea of the family he is marrying into but I think he knows the same kind of thing with the family his eldest sister married in to. I just hope Chiara is not upset with how her great grandmother is feeling at Christmas time 🕰

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HappyCamper74 · M

I think all families have "that person" that cause disharmony in the family, making thing uncomfortable at the least. Yes, losing the patriarch of the family makes the first few holiday gatherings much different. Many times it causes the family to sort of drift apart too. It's always sad seeing your widowed grandparent trying to make it through. You're sad, but try to put on a happy face for them to lift them up, knowing they're missing their partner. But, it's never the same.
In my experience, once the other grandparent passes, the whole family gets together much less frequently. Instead choosing to start their own traditions. Getting together with aunts, uncles and cousins becomes an every three to five years thing.
Chiara seems to be a very well adjusted young lady. I think she will see and feel the difference from years past. Just talk with her letting her know how things will be different this year, so she can prepare herself prior to getting there. She will be okay.