One of the saddest facts of life is that many of the people we love will pass away before we do.

And along with the person goes the very things that they embodied, including their little idiosyncrasies, as well as traditions that they kept alive.

Coming to terms with this can be amongst the hardest things that we, as humans, have to contend with.

For the guy in this story, it’s not about accepting that his grandfather is gone – it’s more coming to terms with the fact that the happy family events that he loved so much as a child have gone with him.

And that truth is very hard to accept.

Read on to find out why.

AIO for feeling disappointed about how extended family gatherings have been going?

I am a 33-year-old man, and I have attended every family gathering since I was a kid growing up in the 90s.

The gathering I’m particularly talking about is Christmas with my extended family on my mom’s side, which was held every Boxing Day.

Between the 90’s to 2003, my late grandfather would rent out a community hall and lots of extended family showed up.

That was when my generation had more kids around opening gifts that my grandparents would buy for all the grandchildren.

But then, the family situation changed.

That was until my grandfather got sick with cancer and passed in 2004.

After that, the gathering started to take place between my grandma’s or two or three different aunts’ houses going forward.

The amount of people in attendance has been slowly but surely going down over the years.

Let’s see how this man is coping with the changes.

Every year has been fun and great to see family, and I would always play with my cousins and do kid stuff.

That was until I turned seventeen, when I participated in more adult conversations and party games like beer pong and such.

At that point, the nights would go on until at least after midnight with one of my cousins and his college buddies, along with whoever else stayed back late.

And that’s when I begin to see the vibes and dynamics change over the course of time.

Read on to find out how things have changed.

Over the last few years, despite Covid, it’s been hit or miss in terms of how the party goes.

It goes one way or another: either everyone leaves after dinner and the house is nearly empty by 8:00pm, which makes me feel disappointed.

Or, it could go on late with a decent amount of us playing drinking games and having great conversation until 3am, which is what I usually anticipate and look forward all year for.

I understand every family is different and things change, but I am wondering if I am overreacting for being upset when things wrap up early.

Family traditions are really important to many people, and it sounds like the best years were when this guy’s grandfather was hosting the big Boxing Day celebrations.

It’s great that the family have continued to get together in the years since, but it sounds like with everyone growing up and forging their own paths, things are changing a lot – and it’s no longer the big happy family event he remembers.

That’s natural, and something that happens over time in most families – but it is absolutely something to be upset about if that is how he feels, after all, it sounds like these were among his childhood highlights.

Let’s see what folks on Reddit made of this.

This person felt a similar kind of disappointment.

However, others thought he should accept the change and move on.

Meanwhile, this Redditor encouraged him to host the celebrations he wanted to see.

That feeling of nostalgia is familiar for many people, especially after loved ones who were the heart and soul of family events have passed on.

It’s for the guy to grieve the loss not only of his grandfather but of the events he hosted in his own time, and no one has a right to tell him that he shouldn’t be upset.

But if he wants the events to happen again?

Time to honor his grandfather’s memory by hosting them himself.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.