Christmas – the season of Hope

I am finding it strangely difficult to write about our Christmas, because it was so good.  I am well aware, that Christmas can be a time of pain, loneliness and despair where all one wants, is for it to be over.  The last handful of years, Christmas has been difficult for my family.  This year there was joy in our simple, slow day.  Please, if you are in one of those ‘dark’ times, take our joy this year as a sign of Hope.  The Hope of the season and the Hope that you are not alone and the Hope that it will get better.

Christmas was a gift to us, a reminder why we made this move, buying this farm and big old home with room inside and out for our expanding family.  The house was wonderfully warm, cozy with fires in the fireplace and wood stove, a white Christmas outside and a new appreciation for scarfs, hats and mittens.  Number Two son was here from Brooklyn and The Newlyweds were coming with their two new puppies, so in a flash of mental health, I declared one of my gifts to all was that I would not worry about how much snow and mud was relocated from outside to inside.

Everyone acted like kids, sledding down the very small hill into the empty pond, snow balls and laughter as the puppies ran around eating whatever they could find that they weren’t suppose to eat, then running into the house and throwing it up.  I never realized that this would be one of those defining moments in my life, and I would find such satisfaction in hearing Number One Son’s words, “Mom, where do you keep your cleaning products?”  Ah, the mess had now been shared with a new generation and was not mine alone to clean up.  It was a beautiful thing.

Whatever your mess, we are wishing you Hope.