I’ve probably joked multiple times (maybe half joked) that there’s no way that I could divorce Chris because I love his family too much. His parents have welcomed me into their family with open arms and always treated me with love, care, and affection. His mom has probably gone out of her way to be sensitive to my feelings, even being a bit too careful and making me wonder why she felt a need to walk on egg shells when framing certain questions she’s asked me. This year marks 12 years of having a relationship with them, and at some point, I really think she should just let her guard down and not be so careful about hurting my feelings with relatively reasonable questions. His dad has always been warm and amiable, always generous at even the most unexpected moment. And with Chris’s brother, I probably see him as close to a real brother as I possibly could. We even squabble and debate like siblings sometimes. We definitely complain to each other like people who have known each other forever.

I have never taken for granted the fact that every year I’ve gone to Melbourne for Christmas, they have always opened their home to me and asked me to treat it like home away from home. That’s a LOT of Christmases between 2012 and now; the only years we did not go back in December were 2017, 2020, and 2021. In total, we probably stay about 2.5-3 weeks total given we do a side trip somewhere else in Australia, and usually end somewhere in Asia. But when you think about it, that’s a lot of time to spend in someone else’s home. I always thank them multiple times throughout the stay for their warm hospitality and eagerness to make me feel comfortable and welcome in their home. It’s especially important to feel welcome in someone’s home when you are traveling halfway across the world.

So when I heard that my friend, who lives in San Francisco, was told directly a number of times that she and her family probably shouldn’t stay longer than two days at a time at her in-laws’ home in Singapore, especially given her young kids were loud and screamed, which caused the mother-in-law a lot of mental distress, I felt hurt myself. San Francisco to Singapore is not a short trip, and on top of that, they’re always there for about a month, which is a LONG time. So to think they are unwanted when so far away just seems like daggers for the sake of daggers. While I felt hurt for my friend, I felt even more grateful for my own situation and how I’ve never, even for a moment, felt that way while in Australia. I am really lucky, really beyond lucky.