Sunday Night With John: Anne's Point of View

Being away from home for the holidays is never easy and at 30 years old, this was the first time I wouldn’t be home to banter about what to cook, get up early and work as a family in the kitchen with a glass of wine, taste my 88 year old and going strong grandma’s dessert, or spend time reminiscing about our families past and chat about our future.  This year, John and I bought two round trip bus tickets to Cleveland to spend Thanksgiving with the Derryberry’s.  Our bus ride was full of colorful characters, the sound of gospel music from the guy in front of us’ headphones, two rude bus drivers and just a few hours of Netflix. 

Going back to John’s home and family in Ohio was a great chance for me to make stronger connections with his immediate family in hopes that we can begin to build a relationship from 10 hours away through the years.   We had a wonderful time visiting the Christmas Story house, sitting around and chatting, going black Friday shopping and being surrounded by people who love each other. 

While my family and John’s family traditions, viewpoints and life experiences are different, there was definitely one common denominator between the two: the love of family.  The Derryberry’s show their love by loving pokes and banter, talking about sports, playing games and celebrating the nieces and nephews.  Even though I was far removed from my element and family, I was happy to be included so whole-heartedly into theirs. 

As the festivities ended and we loaded the bus to Iowa, facing a 10-hour journey home, I was reminded how geographically far away John is from his mom, brother, sister and their families.  But through their consistent phone calls and digital communication they are able to keep their love of family going strong across time zones. 

As John and I continue to merge families and start one of our own someday, I look forward to continuing the tradition of love that the Hansen’s and Derryberry’s both share.