I'm sorry to be a downer, but hopefully a few people out there can relate. I moved more than a 10 hour drive away from my family pretty much as soon as I was able, and I have not regretted the decision. When away living my life, I often forget all the problems my family has and how completely abnormal all of them are. I come back to my hometown once per year for Christmas for two reasons: 1) I feel obligated, and 2) I do love my family even if I don't enjoy being around them at all, and I feel like I should have some relationship with them. However, even after only a few hours here, I was already kind of wishing I hadn't come... I was sitting around today (day 2) just quietly observing what was going on and what was being said, and I felt like an alien from another planet. I think my roommate of 5 months back where I live knows me better than anyone in my own family... I honestly really hate it. It's been bad for a while, but it seems to be getting progressively worse. I feel like a stranger when with my family and completely out of place. Beyond that, being with them is just genuinely unenjoyable... I'm not really sure what to do because for the most part I don't think they TRY to make it this way. It's just kind of the way it is.
To all of you who have families you enjoy spending time with, please appreciate it because not all of us do.