thank god for the holidays.

and by that i mean, why always so stressful holidays, why?
i knew my recent decision to become vegan would not be well received by my meat-loving, christian, republican family. i also knew that it would mean that i would not be able to eat some of my thanksgiving favorites, which i am okay with. my family however, is not. after being told repeatedly the last time i was home, what a horrible and limiting decision this was, i thought perhaps the waters would have cooled when i returned home for thanksgiving. alas, i was sadly mistaken. upon calling my aunt to see if it would be alright if i brought some vegan options to the dinner table on thursday, i was met with several responses, none of which were positive. first, i was told i could bring whatever i wanted to eat. but that she did not need any more food for the dinner table as a whole. nor would i need to bring any dessert, since she already has three on the menu. "i guess i can't ask you to help me pick which ones to make, since you won't be eating any of them," was the next little jab. then we moved on to the old health issues. "i'm not even going to start into the health topic," my aunt says. which she then started into. "if god didn't want us to eat meat, then he shouldn't have given us animals. he should have just given us brush to eat." my silence to this comment elicited a "how do you like that?" from the other end of the line. my response, "i have a few things to say to that but i am not going to get into it right now." i did not think starting my diatribe with "i don't believe in god," would really go over well with my family's catholic upbringing. additionally, comments such as "god DID give us brush to eat. it is called salad and legumes and vegetables." or "you have two dogs, are you going to eat those?" or even "why should we eat animals when there are perfectly delicious and healthy alternatives?" would probably have just been met with more distain. thus, i held my tongue. after offering to help cook other dishes typical to our family's thanksgiving, i got "oh so you can cook it you just can't eat it?" as a response. quickly followed by, "maybe you could just be un-vegan for a day. just when you come home." to which i replied, "yeah probably not." she replied, "you'll come around. you'll figure it out." however, i was told by the end of the conversation, i was told, should i be able, i could make/bring an appetizer. TO SHARE!! it's winning the little battles that really means the most to me. now i must brace for the deluge that will follow these next few days. i can only imagine the gasps and horrified stares the rest of my family will greet me with when i pull out my own , special meal.