“On the third day of Christmas”…today…we actually celebrate Christmas. At our age, each year is a bit different as we try to accommodate in-law families. I suppose things were simpler in the days when people married and raised their families in the same areas where they were raised. Church in the morning, noon dinner at one grandparent’s house and then late dinner at the other. The regrouping of families has its stories handed down. Most interesting are the stories of the mischief of the children out of the ear of adults and the conversation of the adults later reported by children spying on them. But there are also stories, at least in my family, of going to church with pajama bottoms rolled up and of singing Christmas carols around the old piano.
Today we will have three of our children and their families and my husband’s brother here. Our son and his family will celebrate Christmas at their home in Colorado. We plan an Italian feast with Marylou’s spaghetti sauce handed down from my sister-in-law’s mother and a favorite in our family. But there has been lots of cooking going on with the makin of hors d’oeuvres and desserts. It will be an eating day.
An important task of the day is to prepare a video for my granddaughter who will be getting married in Turkey on New Year’s Eve. This is the event that really holds our heart as we come together this Christmas. Alissa met Assad in Australia where she has lived for the past number of years. Assad is Syrian but his family has had to flee to Turkey because of the war there. As traditional in Middle Eastern families, the responsibility to see to the care of parents falls to the oldest son. At this point it appears that in months after the wedding, the couple will be moving to Turkey. We are unable to attend the wedding so we plan to create a video to send via the internet, a greeting to Assad and his family and warm wishes for he and Alissa as they start their lives together. As annoyed I get about all this technology I appreciate this moment when we can send our love as they celebrate their very important day.
Jackson and Charlie are up. Grandpa is starting to prepare breakfast. The tree is lit up and there is a fire in the wood stove. Have a blessed day.
I do hope Alissa’s parents are being as warm and welcoming as you are. I hope they do not exclude her from the family, as seems to be the case with her older sister. It isn’t right to do such things.
Congratulations to Alissa and Assad!