You Can't Make Me

This year's invitation to my family reunion arrived in yesterday's mail.

Family Gatherings, family reunions, whatever you call them...show of hands, who HATES them? 

Yep, me too. I like all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins, I really do. I simply do not want to spend time with any of them. 
http://www.alonelylife.com/showthread.php?tid=8005
(Found this thread when I googled so, yay, I'm not the only one.)

My father was an only child and apparently no one on his side ever felt the need to host a family reunion. (Maybe I take more after him than I thought.)  However my mother was 1 of 13 children who got together at least once every stinkin' year. Even as a child, I HATED going to those things.  I was (am) an introvert, although I wouldn't come to know that word for a very long time.  Not shy, mind you--introverted, and so you can imagine how being in the midst of a large family gathering made me feel.  And so the year that I turned 18, I told my mother that I was not going to any more family reunions.  We actually had a nice little discussion about it, where she all but admitted that she, too, would have preferred not to attend.  But she felt obligated, you see.

I don't feel obligated.  And I've never been one to do things just because "it's the right thing to do".  Pffth, whatever.

I'm 54 freakin' years old, man, and I simply don't want to go.

Let me tell you...when I start thinking about the possibility of going to my family reunion--just thinking about the possibility, my stomach starts churning and my breathing gets shallow.  The nerves kick in, and it's ridiculous, man.  I've got enough stress and worry going on in my life as it is than to voluntarily add more.

Now, some of my cousins are on Facebook, and having contact that way is great, because they're at a distance and I can disconnect whenever I want.  In other words, I don't experience sensory overload.

Okay, I feel better now; sorry, just had to get that off my chest.