In the conclusion to the “Thanksgiving with Family” series, Muds and Possum talk over the Thanksgiving dinners they had with their relatives. For both of them, it didn’t go as badly as they had feared!
As usual, full text is below the fold.
Possum: Hi Muds!
Muds: Oh, you’re back from visiting your relatives at Thanksgiving. How did it go?
Possum: Well, Thanksgiving dinner started out — bad.
Muds: What happened?
Possum: My cousin, Possum, started saying that climate change was made up. And then my sister, Possum, said if that was true, where did all these hurricanes and wildfires and heat domes come from, anyway?
Muds: It’s still confusing to me that all Possums are named “Possum.”
Possum: Then my uncle Possum said, “You’re just a Unitarian Universalist,” like that was a bad thing. Then my mother said, “It’s all in the compost pile.”
Muds: What?
Possum: It’s a possum joke.
Muds: I don’t really understand Possum humor.
Possum: Anyway, then we all started throwing food at each other.
Muds: Oh, my, that sounds bad.
Possum: No, no, nom that’s how possums show love to each other. You can’t be mad at someone when you’re licking mashed potatoes and gravy out of their fur.
Muds: Oh. So everything turned out all right?
Possum: Yes, thanks to Mom Possum using a little humor to defuse the situation. How did your Thanksgiving go?
Muds: Well, it was about like I expected. Most of my aunts and uncles wouldn’t use they-them pronouns for me. They kept saying God only made two genders, and when I said my Unitarian Universalist God is nonbinary gender, they got mad.
Possum: So it was bad, huh?
Muds: Actually, no, my teenaged cousins now use my correct pronouns this time. And they corrected my aunts and uncles when THEY used the WRONG pronouns. Plus I got talk with my aunts and uncles about my favorite grandparent, which was good.
Possum: Wow, so maybe your family is slowly changing.
Muds: Yes. And it was good to see my biological family for a day or two. But it’s also good to be back home with everyone here.
Possum: Yeah. When I got back, I was so glad to see you, and Ms. and Mr. Bear, and Sharpie Ann, and Rolf, and everyone! But… it was also good to spend time with my possum relatives, because they understand about food fights, and possum jokes, and stuff like that.
Muds: I guess you and I need BOTH our biological families, AND our chosen community.