Being Away From Family For The Holidays

Maybe it's the way I was raised or maybe it's just my personality - but during 11 months of the year living nearly 1,000 miles from the rest of my family doesn't bother me all that much at all. For those that don't know - I live in Dallas. My family (pretty much everyone except a few cousins) live in Illinois. Most around the Chicago area. 

Like I said - that doesn't bother me. That is...until the holidays (which I love! Best time of the year, in my opinion). Now, over the past decade that I've been working I have gotten used to it a little, but I still miss them the most during the holiday season.  This year, I went home for a week for Thanksgiving. I requested that holiday off. Which means I'll be working on Christmas. So I can't go home. 

Working on holidays

I don't mind working on the occasional holiday. That comes with the territory when you work in the news biz. And if you think about it - a lot of people are also required to work when "everyone else" has off. 

Here's a short list of some jobs that may require you to work on a holiday:

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•  Nurse
  
•  Firefighter
  
•  Police officer
  
•  Airline pilot
  
•  Flight attendant
  
•  Baggage handler 
  
•  Waiter/Waitress at a restaurant 
  
•  Those that work at a hotel
  
•  Entertainers (ie: musicians, actors)
  

The list goes on...

My winning graham cracker house. I mean, seriously. That's pretty badass.

My point is that if you work on a holiday whether it's Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, or any of the other nationally recognized holidays you're not alone.

Thank God for technology 

Seriously. Thank God! The next best thing to being physically with your family during the holidays is Skyping or FaceTiming with them. The King family Christmas is tonight and I'll be joining them thanks to the wonder that is my iPhone. Technology makes being away from family a little bit more tolerable. I can't wait for our annual gingerbread (or graham cracker) house making contest (which I won last year, thank you very much). After that I'll be able to see them open their presents and they can watch me open mine.  Everyone wins.


Gotta do what you gotta do

That's the bottom line. You gotta do what you gotta do. If your job requires you to miss out on a holiday every now and then that's okay. You're certainly not alone and its certainly better than not having a job. Are you away from your family for the holidays? Does your job require you to work a holiday on occasion? Or are you a teacher or banker? I kid I kid!

Merry Christmas everyone!

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