Misunderstanding about "Family Time"

The upcoming holiday season is a very interesting season for me.  We are pushed, forced, prodded, force-fed "family"...not a realistic family, but a Hollywood family....the ideal, Normal Rockwell family. That doesn't work in real time.  When I left my home state 6 years ago to pursue the life I felt I had to, for myself, my family and my personal providential responsibility.   I realized the hard reality of "out of sight out of mind."  I also developed the personal philosophy of "family is those who treat you like family"....I owe no personal relations to people simply because we share a family tree... Think, how many people do you call on Thanksgiving? How many to you call the day after?