It was, in many ways, a beautiful albeit bittersweet Christmas. Our children, and grand kids, as well as my sister, and array of in-laws and dear family friends gathered as they have for the last 28 years in our kitchen, taking turns blocking the stove. We have a fairly large house, and to be fair, the kids had taken over the living room in a bloodless coup! At one point, the chaos level rivaled the "running of the brides" in Filene's Basement (r.i.p) but still, I wouldn't trade it for anything. It is possible that this was the last of 28 Christmases in this house, and that makes us all sad. But we need to down-size and will be trying to figure out the best way to do so in a crummy economy with a house which has the kinds of flaws that anyone approaching 150 years old might be expected to have.
Jim came down to join us several times Christmas Eve, and was down most of Christmas Day. Unfortunately, he had picked up a cold somehow, and was under the weather. Before Christmas Day was over we were at the ER in Beth Israel Needham and he was admitted around 2 AM Friday morning in excruciating pain that even several doses of morphine could not touch. X-rays revealed no pneumonia, (which was my great fear) and a head CT scan turned up nothing unexpected. The guess is that he has more ribs fractured. The poor guy. He is such a trooper usually, but this was extraordinary. Being the weekend adjacent to Christmas, I worry that he won't see much progress until next week.
Editorial Comments by Lynn: I just added the photo of the youngest grandchild, Drew, who lunged into Santa's arms upon Santa's arrival. Drew has a special bond with Jim (aka Grampy), and I think provides an element of comic relief and "youth" that no medicine could provide. Here's the most precious moment of Christmas (captured on film, anyway) of 2008...
Editorial Comments by Lynn: I just added the photo of the youngest grandchild, Drew, who lunged into Santa's arms upon Santa's arrival. Drew has a special bond with Jim (aka Grampy), and I think provides an element of comic relief and "youth" that no medicine could provide. Here's the most precious moment of Christmas (captured on film, anyway) of 2008...
2 comments:
A magnificent holiday overall, without a doubt...but definitely would have been nice to end it on another note! Thanks for ALL your hard work and effort that is your direct show of affection! Everything was FaBuLoUs! As always.....
In a very strange and ironic way, it was the best Christmas. We all slowed down, and spent more time thinking about each other and what Christmas really is, than rushing around for a month and a half in the choas that is Christmas shopping. I missed the decorations and music at the malls, which usually is what gets my spirit going, but I was so much more in tune with family and the TRUE spirit of Christmas. The 24 hrs from 5pm Christmas Eve on were fantastic, and although the following 8-9 hrs weren't what we had hoped for, the holiday was one we will all always remember. You are the role model for us all - head up, feet moving - always in the direction of showing those you love, just how much you love them!
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