Holiday stress had officially begun for me.

As two of the largest holidays of the year approach I can't help but wonder if many people have lost sight of what they are all about. I know everyone is different, so they may not mean the same to you as they do to me.
To me, there are many meanings but above all else, it's about family. Everyone grows up and goes there separate way, but I feel like when birthdays or big holidays come around, that is truly a time for people to make an effort to be around family. I was always around family growing up, so naturally that's how I want it. And I genuinely feel like no one around me, in my family, feels the same way. I'm also a little envious that my hubby's family, for the most part, always put forth the effort to be together.
(And to be clear, by family I mean grandparents, aunt/uncle, cousins, siblings, kids, everyone- that biiig get together-).
Never fails for something to cause a bump in the road during Thanksgiving  and/or Christmas.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not totally unreasonable. I know there are other families to take into account, I realized that sometimes work isn't as festive & you can't get off. Or maybe you have moved away and can't afford to make it. I get it. But when there's minimal to no effort made. It's sad.
I feel like people in my family don't value family time on large scale. They do on the smaller scale, each individual family. Which is awesome. But I feel like the lone ranger who really wants and rallies for everyone to get together a few times a year.
Thanksgiving is approaching and I've already had my feelings hurt. I'm not going to elaborate because it's something that could still be worked out. So there's no definite damage just yet, just hurt feelings on my part.

And to top it off, my mom just asked me yesterday if I want to be in charge of the cooking this year. Kind of scared to accept that challenge, it's be my first Thanksgiving Dinner, even though I'm not hosting it at my own place yet. lol So...still thinking about that.

So, what do the holidays mean to you?