It occurred to me several months ago that with my children gone to different continents, I would have no family here for Christmas and the holidays.  For years, Christmas meant scrambling to get everything done so Christmas would happen for Kennan, children and grandchildren.  It seemed like every year there was more to do and often more people to do it for.  Suddenly, there would be just me and the cat.  No scrambling necessary.  In fact, for the cat Christmas did not have to happen at all.  In the past, I’d often wished there weren’t so much to do for the holidays, however, this was a bit extreme and I started to think about the holidays with just me and the cat at home.  I’ve always known that what’s important about the holidays is being with friends and especially family, and we often invited familyless friends over that day, but it was clearer to me this year in a very different way. I have many wonderful friends, but I realized that being with family was what I wanted and that meant leaving town.  So I did.

First, Ruth and children flew here in November and we all drove to Ohio for the annual Thanksgiving family reunion with Kennan’s family.   When we came back, I had a day to pack and Ruth put me on a plane for Vienna, Austria.  There I met my newest granddaughter and had lots of toddler and baby rocking time and a little tourism time, too.  It snowed my last day and we went to a very old church, so old it had no heat. It was picture perfect (but very cold).  I returned to Arlington for a school board meeting and to check on the cat.  Then I got on a plane for Madison, Wisconsin to spend Christmas with my mother and her friend and my two sisters.  My mother had tuned the piano and practiced Christmas carols for weeks.   It snowed in a timely manner and my younger sister got snowed in with us.  Perfect timing.  It was beautiful.  

Throughout this holiday season, I dodged storms on two continents, helped a lot in kitchens, and had time for many relaxed (and sometimes with small children not so relaxed) conversations. It was not a holiday season I’d never imagined, but I felt very lucky to have family and to be with them.   it was just right.

I hope my readers have had a good holiday season wherever you were and wish everyone much time with friends and family in 2010.