December 20, 2023
I’ve been feeling like Nora Krank, from "Christmas with the Krank's since the beginning of December.Madeline had a couple of exams to write and then was coming home for Christmas.She hadn’t been home since May, and she wasn’t with us last Christmas because of Covid and her work.I have been so excited. December 1 is the date that we allow Christmas types of things to start to happen in our house.We turn on a few Christmas tunes.We might put up a decoration or two.Our outdoor Christmas tree is lit , and our beautiful reindeers that we made last year are put on display. Knowing Madeline was coming home I started to put some of our Christmas traditions in place.I got a Christmas puzzle for us to do together. (I pictured some cozy afternoons sipping tea and chit chatting and working on the puzzle together.She did it alone on her first evening home lol).I also got a gingerbread house for us to decorate like we always do.I got an extra big one for fun. (Madeline came home and the first thing she gave us was a gingerbread house and announced that we will have a decorating competition - Jim and I against her and boyfriend Alec, who was going to visit for a few days.) I laughed.I cleaned our house, baked some goodies with my mom and have been happily anticipating her arrival.
And she arrived as the snow fell and it was so pretty.She is half way done 4th year at Queen’s University and is loving being at school.She is a passionate learner.Her boyfriend arrived yesterday and we took him to a dinner party with our long-time friends.It was one of those moments when you are very happy as a parent when you listen to, and watch your kid talk about where she grew up and all of the things she appreciated about her home, about Haliburton and her friends and family. She has so many stories about this community.It warmed my heart! Christmas can be a very lovely time of year, and it can be a very hard time of year.For some it is their first Christmas without someone they can’t imagine living without.Others might be lonely or just not into all the festivities. For some, things don’t work out the way they expected and it can be disappointing and cause one to suffer. I have suffered at Christmas myself a couple of times and I have learned that suffering is a call for love.It is a time when we need to really offer kind awareness to whatever is going on.And contemplate what it is that we need to do to look after ourselves.It might be as simple as hunkering in with a good book or making a cup of tea and watching the snow fall.Perhaps we need to reach out and ask a friend for some support.Sometimes we are in a place where we are the ones who need support, and sometimes we are the ones doing the supporting.If you have some extra love and cheer in your heart, I really encourage you to share it, reach out to someone who might be alone, or just be the presence of love in everything you do.It is a wild time in the world right now with many complex things going on.The world needs love! Merry Christmas from the love that sits around our kitchen table to the love that sits at yours.