I told a room full of women today that I know everyone is excited to have their family come home on Christmas Day, but frankly, I’m glad mine aren’t. That’s a change for me after 35 plus years, and I’m now okay with it.
I wasn’t a couple of years ago, but my daughter and family gave me a mixed blessing when they declared they would spend the day with her father-in-law who was a new widower. And so holidays would change at least for the first year.
Christmas Day has always been our family get together day though, and I soon found out that first Christmas Day how lonely I was. Our family planned its gathering for the weekend after Christmas. The kids came home, and we had a lovely time complete with family friends and a relaxed weekend.
The plan that we get together on the weekend after Christmas stuck. It was a mixed blessing to be sure, but we have gifted each of our daughters their own Christmas-day excitement with their families, and isn’t this how traditions begin?
This message is an excerpt from a Women of the ELCA blog by Syd Brinkman. Today is Christmas Eve.
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