It is a rainy Christmas morning. But, the fire’s burning and its warm inside. Christmas music is going. The kids have opened their gifts. Our five year old is playing with her Polly Pockets. Our eleven year old is already on the phone to a friend (“hey dude”). We’ve had our morning coffee and gingerbread cake is underway with fresh brown eggs. We’ve read the Christmas story with all the readers in the house taking different paragraphs. We watched Linus tell Charlie Brown the meaning of Christmas and read the Grinch for the umpteenth time with such gusto I’m surprised the neighbors didn’t complain about the “noise, noise noise, noise.” There’s nothing like Christmas morning.
Normally we would load the car down with gifts and head out to my folks’ house. There bedlam would reign with the sound of multiple sets of kids packed into one house. Cousins, who see each other but few times a year, running through backyard and pasture. Then there’s the catching up among brothers, sisters, mom and dad who all, like their kids, see each other all too infrequent. There’s the old-style white flocked tree with red ball ornaments. Neatly wrapped gifts for the grandkids. There’s thumbprint cookies with red and green frosting. A funny looking reindeer made out of a sock. And toffee.
But this year is different. My mom has cancer and is recovering from a very tough surgery. The family gathering will need to wait. Wait we hope for a better time.
So, today, I’ll head over this afternoon for a short visit. For the rest of the family, a merry Christmas phone call will have to suffice for today.
Every year, we enjoy our area’s Christmas displays. We do Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena (with our car lights off). We take multiple trips to Hastings Ranch and the Balian house. It is amazing they’ve been doing the lights in Hastings Ranch since 1957!
Our Christmas traditions may seem routine. Maybe they are. Year in and year out, we go to the same places and do the same things with the same people. But, I enjoy it immensly. And, this year I am reminded, that it is only for a season.
Merry Christmas.
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