My family delayed our Christmas get-together so that my cousins can visit their in-laws. With New Year on Thursday, we finally convened at my brother's house for lunch. The last time we met up was in November for the 100-day commemoration of my grandma's passing. But like last year's Holiday get-together, there were several no-shows. Except for my mom, all of the older generation were sick with various seasonal illnesses. My cousins' partners were also ill leaving only the "core family" members to be there. It occurred to me later that this could be a preview of the coming decade or two. This year's spread was pork heavy: charcuterie, char sieu, and pork belly. There was also shrimp tempura, fried noodles, and stir-fried bok choy. Dessert was store-bought pie instead of a home-made cake.
My youngest cousin, currently living in Vancouver, was hard at work on their start-up: a combination of meetup and eventbrite. They will run out of funds by April so they might have to work on it part-time to find a regular job. An older cousin was approaching their 25-year as a public servant, but they weren't sure if they'll consider early retirement yet. The ones in between those two ages were busy with young children so no drastic changes for them, just par for the course.
My brother was excited about his trip to a conference in Madrid in June. Since his family won't join him until July because of school exams for the children, he was planning a 3-week working holiday instead of returning to Ottawa. I think he was equally excited for seeing various European cities and being sans offspring. Not sure how his wife feels about not having the same option available. My own working holiday (i.e., a 3-month sublet) was also coming up. My relatives weren't convinced that winter in Toronto can be considered a vacation. But if nothing else, it will be 10 degrees warmer in The Big Smoke.
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