Christmas for me, like for so many others, has always been a very special time of the year. As I grow older and have the time to look back on the past 59 Christmas seasons I've enjoyed, I have come to realize that all the presents in the world could never measure up to the time spent with family and friends. I yearn for the days when my mother and dad were still here; when gramma Gen and I would spend days baking cookies and pies and making rock candy and divinity. There was always music playing in the house, either on the stereo, or my sister and I playing the piano and singing. I remember the year that all my brothers were home for Christmas with their families. I think it was the one and only time we were all together in one place and I wish I had known how important that event was then.
Mother entrusted me with trimming the tree. It wasn't one of the things she enjoyed doing. It became one of my fave things to do until recent years. The sparkling lights and pretty ornaments... my folks ornaments were all pretty generic, but when I started my family, I started a growing collection of very meaningful ornaments that bring back such wonderful memories too many to describe. The ones I hold dearest were made by my children during their school years and those that my mother would give me as well.
By the time my first grandchild was born, we were fortunate enough to live next door to none other than Santa Claus himself. Every Christmas Eve, Santa would make his way, in full regalia, through whatever weather we were having, to bring a doll for Adrianna and toys for Brandon and Erik. It became a tradition that, unfortunately, ended when the grandchildren got a little too old to fall for it. Strangely enough, until this writing, they have always thought that Santa was their uncle Matt, who I'm sure would have done a very fine job of it were it not for the fact that our neighbor insisted he do the honors.
This Christmas Eve will be quiet in the Duffy household. Bill, Mark and I will enjoy a nice seafood dinner, then we'll begin to prep things for our family celebration tomorrow. My daughter Amanda and her family will join us in the afternoon for games and dinner and I'm sure heaps of laughter. We will all be missing my son, Matthew, who is currently working extreme hours in extreme weather up on Lutsen Mountain in Minnesota. Hopefully next year, he will be here with us once more.
Merry Christmas everyone with love ~
xxJBDxx
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