I'm a lucky man

I spent the Christmas holiday with my Dad's side of the family in Philadelphia. This consisted of me, Dad, Uncle John, Aunt Shelley, and my cousins Jake and Bill.  I'll be honest, I wasn't looking forward to this visit.  My uncle is the bully of the family and makes everyone uncomfortable with his comments and behavior.  Of course, he was no different during this visit.  

I have to say that I feel sorriest for my Aunt Shelley.  When it is just her and I, she is so much fun.  She gets my sense of humor and we have a good time.  But with John she is miserable and the thing is, she's his second wife!  John's first wife left him in a nasty divorce with my three cousins getting caught in the middle.  

The reason I consider myself a lucky man is I consider myself one of the two normal members of that side of the family (the other being my brother).  Matt and I have been together for 13 years now and the thing I love most is we still make each other laugh.  It can be over the silliest of things, but the laughter is still there.  

My family sees success as finishing your education, having a successful career, etc.  For me, my success is simply being happy.  My three cousins are successful, but I don't see them as happy.  None of them has had a seriously relationship (and I attribute that fact to how much their father screwed them up) and they are all older than I am.