Our daughter's birthday was on December 23rd, and I am not free to tell you how old she is as evident from Christmas Eve when I reminded her uncle and older cousins about her age. She's come to that sensitive part of aging, I suppose.
Her birthday is two days before Christmas, and let me just say that she was due on December 5th, and had we NOT gone in to get her, I'd still be pregnant with her, and it would not have been pretty. Anyway, she was the best Christmas present for us, especially in light of the year we had...losing both of my parents within six weeks of each other.
Anyway, the most important thing about that year was the most beautiful baby girl in the world who was brought out to me at the hospital on Christmas Day in a huge red stocking. She is still totally beautiful, smart, sassy, and funny to boot.
My husband and I are so absolutely thankful for this Christmas gift and for that of her brother three years later. Forever, they will be the best gifts!
I cannot close without talking about the Christmas Eve tradition of hanging out with my oldest brother's kids, grandchildren, step-grandchildren, friends, lovers, whatever. It is a night filled with food, laughter, drinking, food... It is also a night we reminisce and feel the loss of my sweet sister-in-law who's been gone for two years now. These are her children too, and her presence is everywhere -- in the decorations and especially in the baked goods of her daughters and her sister. We all miss her terribly, but her legacy of love is strong and very powerful.
The noise level is off the charts as the small, all male grandchildren run amok shooting at each other and dragging older cousins into their fray. Some of the still older "cousins" hang out at the playroom bar and try to see how many drinks they can slam back before going outside to get sick and/or get on the road to drive home...such a comforting vision and thought.
In any case, I love being with my brother and his huge family. It's so loud, but it just would not be Christmas without it.
Well, greetings of the season.
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