The Day After!

In retrospect that came quickly, this is the year to really walk the talk. Being snowed in, no presents under the tree, my Christmas ornaments packed away and stored in my sister's shed.....Christmas this year was a lesson in truth. Face to face with change, heart to heart with reality, the blessings of human kinship come alive. What do people do without family....without resources.....without a safety net? I called Mom.....the noise at her house was deafening....my brother and his family were all there opening gifts, laughing, celebrating and with a unified shout out wished me, "Merry Christmas Joye". I wanted to be there. My son called.....they were on their way to three celebrations.....breakfast, lunch and dinner with various friends and family. I wanted to be there too.

I watched the icicles dripping off the eaves.....the Christmas lights were embedded in them and produced a magical light show. Still in my flannel Christmas jammies, I pulled a sausage quiche out of the oven and poured mimosas for my sister, her partner and myself. The rich warm breakfast cheered me up assisted by the champagne. Ahhhhh.....Christmas is coming along here. And big surprise, on the glass coffee table was a circle of angels I had not noticed on this Christmas morning. Some angels wrote a script, some sang, some had a pizza or burger in their sacred little glass hands. Lori, had hand blown angels for everyone.....and the angel with the paint brush and little easel was mine. Just for good measure, the one with the garden rake and trowel was mine too. It brought tears to my eyes....Christmas was here.....angels were attending.

Friends called and E-mailed.....the late afternoon ham dinner was delicious, I wrote a poem, it snowed a little bit more, we watched movies, the dogs got a bath, the cats snuggled under the tree in the front window and Christmas was over. So Christmas this year was wonderful....quiet, reflective, very, very different and a lesson in contrast. I was here....present...finding the joy in what is instead of what I had planned. Wonderful, Counselor, The Prince Of Peace......the hallelujah chorus rang in my ears. And so it is!