Here it is, the day after Christmas and I'm scrolling through all my friends and family's Christmas photos and holiday wishes. I'm noticing all the beautifully decorated homes and living rooms full of presents. I begin to think about our Christmas, our year, our life...
We have an unusual Christmas tradition of going to the movie theater on Christmas day. It began many years back when our middle child, Tiffany, was spending some time in a State Hospital. Tiffany dealt with a rare disease (San Filippo Syndrome, Type-A). She went through several stages which ranged from extreme hyper-activity, ability to survive on 2 hours of sleep each night, Pica (a compulsive eating disorder in which one eats nonfood items... plants, paper, nails...), all the way down to eventual immobility and loss of major organ functions. It was during the "Non-sleeping" period of her life that we required extra assistance with her. On Christmas day, our little family would drive to Porterville and pick Tiffers up for the day. The only thing open was the movie theater and McDonalds. Since both of those were two of her most favorite places to go, that would be our family Christmas. Tiffany has been gone for 6 years now, but the tradition continues (minus McDonalds, lol).
I noticed our decorations were sparse. Jeff and I moved right before the holidays, so our focus was on "fixing" rather than "decorating" our new accommodations. We are fortunate enough to live in a community which is very festive, so we enjoyed our neighbor's decorations and the holiday golf-cart parade that puttered past our home just before Christmas Eve.
Another thing that has changed over the years is the pile of presents under our tree. As our Christmas tree grew smaller, so did the number of gifts under it. Jeff and I only exchange a few items. We find it more fun to spend our money on adventure. It seems our kids have similar lifestyles, so often times we "adventure" together instead of exchanging a bunch of gifts. It was fun to look back on the entire year and see how "gift giving" has been an ongoing practice. It usually appears as meeting the need of a friend, encouraging those around us, and simply "cheer-leading" those we love. Life has definitely become much simpler and a lot less commercial.
This was a strange year for everyone, given the current COVID-19 epidemic. Last Christmas season, a strange sickness (we didn't know about COVID yet) ran through the church I worked at, infecting most of us who did life together. We were all sicker than we'd ever been, but still we moved forward. My father-in-law was down with pneumonia recently, but tested "clean" for COVID. Other than that, we've been most fortunate in the health category. Our prayers have been with those less fortunate.
We live in Florida, so our living situation has faired so much better than most states. Most everything here is open with very few restrictions. We've become accustomed to masks and social distancing, but we've managed to avoid the "lock-down" many of those we love are experiencing. We even managed to enjoy the beautiful California wedding of our daughter to our housemate, Jimmy. We had to get very creative to accomplish this, but it was one of the more beautiful events I have ever had the pleasure to attend.
All in all this has been a different kind of year. As I get older, my life changes. I think I like the way it's morphing. I'm glad we celebrate tradition, but we are always open to new adventures. I love getting gifts, but I'm certainly enjoying helping others more. I take way more time to laugh than I do getting stuck in a puddle of tears. I am truly blessed, but I also make sure it's the blessings I focus on and not the short-comings.
This week, my husband and I will set aside some time to come up with a few dreams and goals for next year. We set them loosely. One thing we have learned from our life is that everything can change at any moment, however, if you have nothing to look forward to, you never know if you're accomplishing anything. One thing we will always do, as individuals and as a family, is to "celebrate everything." So from our house to yours... Happy Adventures to you and plan to enjoy this coming new year!
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