Christmas 2009

 

So I'm a little late with my Christmas reporting.  But I'm finally going through pictures and sorting my life back out and figured I might as well share these lovely family pictures with you.  At least I think they're lovely because they are of my families that I love so dearly.

All I can say is, WOW, what a difference this Christmas season was from the last one!  It makes a huge difference to be feeling well mentally and to have the emotional energy to pour into having family fun.  I enjoyed the two weeks around the holidays immensely this year and laughed my tail off.  (Laughter tends to be the gauge I use to decide whether or not something is a success.)

The first part of the holidays were spent down in Indy with the Showalter clan where there was a steady stream of food entering our mouths for four days straight.  I kept my mouth open and just let the food roll in.  My mother-in-law would not let us open presents on Christmas eve BUT she did allow us to open stockings (yes, we are all six years old - or maybe it's just me) which was delightful and did stretch the festivities out a little longer.  All in all it was a lovely, and relatively quiet four days spent bonding with family.

Then the Christmas festivities began with my loud, manic, crazy family.  Thus began the talk-as-loud-as-you-can-and-over-somone-if-necessary-if-you-want-to-be-heard marathon.  (Some of the weaker in-laws are rendered virtually mute for the weekend.)  And our gathering would not be complete without a game of bingo for cash prizes that gets everyone in the Christmas spirit.

But one of my favorite moments of the holidays came when my family was gathered at my house for "Christmas Part II" on a Tuesday evening for a Skyline Chili feast.  (Yes, there were 16 people packed in my tiny house but they were all really good sports about it.)  I decided that we needed to get a family picture.  Which makes everyone sort of roll their eyes but they tend to humor me.  (I am the baby of the family after all.  I know how to work it.)  So I'm trying to convince them to get in the spirit of things and I keep saying, "Who knows when we'll all be together like this again, or if we ever will" with a slightly sad and wistful voice.  A touch dramatic, I admit, but it had been three years since we'd all been gathered under one roof.  (Things are harder now that one family now lives in Texas and one in Chicago.)  So all the adults are sitting at our dining room table while I plead my case.  And my mom (always the optimist) says "Who knows, maybe next year there will be more in the family.  Someone might get married or have a baby."  Ah yes, a much more positive spin than my "someone might die before we get together again" approach.  At that precise moment the oldest grandchild, Courtney who is 19 and living on her own now, walks up to the table and says: "I have an announcement to make."

And a collective GASP goes up from the table of adults.  We all hold our breath as one.

Courtney, sensing our panic, quickly blurts out, "I just wanted to thank you all for my Christmas gifts."  (She had been unable to be present for "Christmas Part I.")

And a collective SIGH of relief went out from table, strong enough to rustle all the curtains in my house.  *Note to Courtney, "I have an announcement to make," is usually reserved for major life-altering events.  You might want to use that one more judiciously in the future! 

So the picture was taken.  But I really wanted to torture everyone by doing what I dub "The Mennonite Family Picture Series."  (I'm sure it is used by many other faiths and cultures but I associate it with my Mennonite families.)  You may know now exactly what I'm talking about.  The series goes like this:

     picture of entire extended family

     picture of just grandkids

     picture of grandkids with grandparents

     picture of grandparents with just their children (no spouses)

     picture of grandparents with their children and spouses

     picture of just the children - no spouses

     picture of just the children with spouses

     picture of each family unit

     Did I miss any?

But I didn't torture them that way.  And when I look at these pictures and think back to my Christmas 2009 memories just one warm word defines how I feel: Love.  I am so very lucky.