Christmas Is Over And Our Family Is Changed

Days Of Christmas 2014 Photo Bombing Are Done

(Photos removed by me to preserve privacy)

I peeled back my eyes slowly and I could see it was daylight.  The apartment is cold but very quiet, everyone is still sleeping off the last week.  Christmas is officially over.  New Year’s celebrations will be coming soon but in this moment of lying here with the memories of the last 5 days creating a mental stamp in my mind of this year’s Christmas, I am a bit sad that it is over.

I miss my cousins and family already and we haven’t even been home for 12 hours.  And much of this family live within 3 hours driving distance.  It’s the energy of this season, the spirit of laughter and sincere love that cannot be penetrated during this window of time.  It’s not every holiday or birthday that we are ALL together.

Some Of Our Gang At The First Gathering

The memories that will stick will be the one’s that define and separate this year from other Christmas’.  This is the first Christmas that my generation took a very strong lead in creating new traditions.  Not that much of what happened this year had not before but this year was the first year that we only have my parent’s left alive as our family elders.

New Tradition – Joy1 Enjoys Her Uncle’s Boat On The Bay

We had an additional day with our generation at the helm, without an elder present – it was magical to know that it will continue on with such enthusiasm and true love for each other.  I had a few years of question as to how this would play out as our elders were slipping into the sunset.  All of the elders had been so close for 50+ years.  The last decade was the cousins generation watching our parents generation get smaller; our family shift and settle.

The Next Generation At The 2nd Christmas Gathering

Interesting as I write this my mind has completely come to terms with what the big memory of this Christmas will be: A Changing Of The Guards.  Christmas is over.  This isn’t what I went into this Christmas week thinking but it fully became just that.