Why is your mom crazy for moving to be near her brother? Or is there some other reason. And frankly I think it's more crazy for any family to expect someone who is just starting to make it on their own to buy gifts for 20 family members.

Anyhow, back to your original question. I'll be with family again this year, but I've spent Christmas alone a few times in the past when my dad was alive and working as a consultant in other countries and my sister was then married and with his family in another town. I felt a bit bummed out I guess but all my family called me from their other various locations and I was fine with that.

The only one time it was bad was when we had an ice storm one Christmas Day and the street I lived on totally lost power on top of it. So here I was alone in my place with no tv to watch, no oven to cook in, no lights at night to read! I admit to feeling briefly sorry for myself then