What's not to love about the magical month and a half between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day? Everybody you meet seems to be excited about something- whether a child anticipating a visit from Santa, young parents ready to show off their baby to extended family, or grandparents excited at the thought of their offspring gathering together to visit them... The whole world is seen through holly lenses with tinkling jingle bell background sounds, even down to the commercials on TV.
I enjoy this time of year immensely, especially since Darren and I are figuring out our own traditions. Since attending Texas A&M, we haven't made it a ritual to go home for Thanksgiving only because we often spent the Friday after screaming our hearts out and freezing our fingers off at the A&M-tu rivalry game. When we moved up to STL, the cost of the plane ticket solidified the fact that we would be spending Christmas' stepchild of a holiday in Missouri. Fortunately, we have been lucky enough to either have friends come visit (last Thanksgiving), or another family to join (this Thanksgiving). There was enough turkey, football, and dominoes to go around...twice!
I was on call for Christmas this year, which opened my eyes to a whole other dimension of the holiday. Suddenly I found myself being thankful to every person who has ever had to spend Christmas morning apart from his or her own family in order to service someone else. That could be your friendly Starbucks barista, Walmart cashier, local policeman, news anchor, soldier abroad, or medical personnel. There are thousands of people every year who wake up and go to work on Christmas, just like every other ordinary day. I didn't realize it until it was me, which just speaks to how self-centered my world can be sometimes. To each and every person who has ever worked on Christmas, no matter the job and no matter the circumstance, thank you!!!
My call wasn't terrible, but I did have to go in. I decided to be as joyful as possible to every nurse I spoke with, patient I saw, and person I encountered. It made the experience a pleasant one, and I hope to approach every call weekend during this upcoming year with the same attitude.
Our sweet family and friends FaceTime'd us in to help us celebrate the holiday even while we were away from them. The Cannons have a tradition of reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, one page per person, before opening one gift each on Christmas Eve. Since they had given us our own copy of the book last year, we were able to participate! My family opened one gift each on Christmas day, saving the "Christmas experience" until the 26th (when we would arrive by plane). What a kind and selfless act for each of them to do, to sit on Christmas day and stare at the unopened gifts and wait patiently for a grown married couple to come home.
We spent our four days in Texas with so much joy and love that I almost felt as if I was in a dream. We had the pleasure of seeing my grandmother and cousins, Darren's aunt and cousins, our friends from college, and my best friend from my childhood. We ate Springcreek BBQ, Bluebell ice cream, and mom's homemade chicken spaghetti. We played a fierce number of board games, including multiple rounds of the Guess Who game I had put together for the Cannons. We went to a shooting range and tried out several guns and even made it a competition. We watched home videos of our first Christmases and snuggled up together outside a new fire pit.
Basically, we had a fantastic time. Living far away from home seems to have brought one huge blessing: when we do go home, it is such a cherished time that all of the small things that would usually cause us to quarrel or make someone upset just disappear. What we are left with is a condensed weekend of quality time making wonderful happy memories.
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