Family and Friends . . .

I was listening to Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe on the way home from church today and, as always, there was a very good message to the story that was being told.
Mary Turlington is hosting Christmas dinner for the first time without her sister being there. She is understandably upset by this and so Dave and Morley are invited over by her husband. The result is something similar to the Griswald's Christmas Vacation. For those of you who haven't seen this classic Christmas film, that means a complete and utter disaster with a happy ending.
Mary is talking to her husband after everyone has left and all the fires have been put out and he says "Family and friends, they sure do make a mess of things." Mary replies, "Yes they certainly do."
Although this may always seem to be the case, most especially around Christmas time, it is these people who have made themselves so precious in our lives, those who cause stress and create chaos that make Christmas what it is. They make it worth the stress and fighting for a parking spot to get that last perfect gift and the exhaustion that inevitably sets in as soon as all the presents are open and the floor is strewn with wrapping paper. It is because of these people that we all come home for Christmas.