2nd Christmas Day
Oh my oh my, What a grand 2020 Christmas. Forget all the other less than good things that happened in 2020, these last two days have wiped out the negative.
Christmas day, our home welcomed family to Stauffer Avenue. The home was filled with the aroma of oven dishes waiting to make an appearance onto the table that was set for eight. Conversation dwindled while the plates were filled by those that had the longest reach to take individual instructions of what and how much to put on each plate and then passed it down. No one was bashful when seconds were ask for.
Dennis and I had a plan, I prepared the meal and served it and Dennis would be the dish washer. The plan worked great. Dennis had had offers to help him, but he was up to the task of shouldering it solo.
The platters of goodies were set in the middle of the table and everyone took ownership of what they desired and what they could handle. What ensued was the chit chat as everyone settled into comfortable chairs of their choice. With our small home there really isn’t much of a choice in chairs, but . . . it always works. I actually stayed at the place I had enjoyed the meal. Listening to the banter back and forth from the kids . . . priceless. I had the best seat in the house. Megan and Nicholas found their way out into the patio porch and Snuggles scored big from all the attention. When Dennis went out to the patio porch after the dishes were done, he got some one on one with Megan and Nicholas. What was talked about in the patio porch . . . stays in the patio porch.
It was just the best time ever for me. When Dennis and I found ourselves alone in the evening, we each commented on various parts of the day as we did a “recap.” I was not the only one that thought we had nailed it as deeming it a great day.
Today we traveled to Mankato, as Dennis’ granddaughter hosted the Curry Christmas. Seeing the families from the North Shore area was a treat. The home was a-buzz with little ones aging from two to thirteen. A sit-down meal wasn’t needed. With no shortage of food, it seemed as if there were unintentional waves of those that were hungry and those that were not. It all worked out. We knew that the Curry gathering would go far into the night as many were sheltering in place for the night. We hugged everyone, wishing them the best and we headed for home, as we knew we would be home before dark.
The amount of slush on portions of the highway and the windshield spray of slush, made it plenty difficult, but we were home before dusk. With the dropping temps, ice would soon appear on portions of the road. The first thing we did when we hit St. James, was head for a car wash. We concluded our Christmas with a romantic stint in the carwash. Priceless.
Both days, there were no gifts exchanged. Who needs material gift exchanges when there is so much joy and appreciation of . . . each other. I want more of it and I think next year, I will begin asking Santa far ahead of his busiest time if he will grant me that.
This evening, I am going to rest easy . . . it was the best Christmas ever.