My sister Ashley and I Christmas Eve
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. My family will be gathered together at Papas
house eating, drinking, laughing, opening gifts, bonfires, fireworks, and I
will not be a part of it. This will not
be the first Christmas I have missed.
When I was living in Vancouver I usually made it home after the holidays
when flights were cheaper and I could weasel my way out of work for a couple
weeks. When I was out west though even
when I couldn't make it home for the holidays I had all my friends and I was
still home.
Myself, Papa, Aunt Linda, Dad and Ashley
This year is very different for
me, for us. We are together and as Ross has said many times we are our own
family, we have each other and really that is enough. We are taking a great trip and will make new
memories in exciting places. I am not
ungrateful nor do I regret being here instead of there but it doesn't make the sad
feelings of missing family during the holidays disappear. When I made the choice to move away I knew I
would not always be home for important events and holidays.
Ross and I Christmas 2013
My favourite part of Christmas is
waking up at a ridiculous hour on Christmas morning when it is still dark and
the hallway is illuminated by twinkling lights on the tree. I run into my little sisters bedroom and jump
on top of her yelling its Christmas!
Wake up! Santa came! (Yes I still do this in my thirties) And we laugh
and snuggle and run into the living room to see what treasures lay
waiting.
Ashley and I enjoying the holidays
My parents know how to make the
morning special and magical, they have done it since we were little and
continue to do it now that we are adults and I always appreciate the effort
they put in. There is always a trail of
sparkles and shinny fake snow leading from the door to the tree (We do not nor
have we ever really had a chimney) the presents are also covered in these magic
sparkles because that is how Santa rolls.
The presents are always rearranged from the night before to make it look
as full and exciting as possible and of course there is usually at least one
gift still left from Santa (Which I love since I have known the truth since I
was 7). I should also add the Santa
gifts are always signed by Dad, it would have been too obvious if Mom wrote
those ones too.
Christmas morning
Ashley (my sister) and I will
poke around through the presents getting all worked up and then sometimes (not
every year, but most years) we will pull stuff out of our stockings and check
out the goods before putting it back together and going to wake up our
parents. It is important to have coffee
on the go because you know they are not getting out of bed without it. They grumble about it being too early and why
do we do this every year? For a brief
moment I feel a little guilty for waking them up at 6 am, but then I see my
Dads face and as much as he tries to scowl at me I see the twinkle in his eye
and I know he is having fun too.
Lestat
Jake (RIP)
Charlie
We all sit around the tree
drinking our tea and coffee, Christmas carols play quietly and we all open our
gifts. We have never been greedy or gone
too over the top. I love that my family
really makes the holiday about family and not about the gifts. We love giving and of course receiving but we
all know that isn't what it’s about so its makes the gifts that much more
special. We all know each other well and
get presents that we know will be appreciated.
And every year without fail Mom gets her Opium (perfume) and Dad gets a
box of new socks. They act all surprised
but we all know its coming. It’s what
they like.
Myself, Ashley and Ross Christmas Morning
By 8 am we are all just sitting
around working on second and third coffees and thinking about breakfast. There is such love in the air and smiles
through our now sleepy eyes. We take our
time getting ready and enjoying the morning before heading off to Aunt Carols
for another dinner and more family time.
I missed Aunt Carols the last Christmas I was home though because it was
the first time Ross had been home with me for the holidays and we drove three
hours to his parents place in the afternoon to celebrate with them.
Mom and I
Ashley, Dad and I
I always try to convince myself, unsuccessfully,
that missing Christmas isn't a big deal and I will see my family soon but this
year is especially hard. I knew moving
here that I might not be going home until the contract was up. It is an expensive trip and Ross just does
not have enough holiday days to make it worth it. There is so much travelling time needed to
get there and go back and forth between our families it would end up being more
of a tease and very stressful. We also
feel like we are only here in Europe for two years and there is a great deal we
wish to see while we have the chance so we should spend our time off travelling
and exploring. We do not know if we will
ever be back to Europe once we leave so we need to enjoy it now.
I will be thinking of family and
missing that togetherness during this next week. Luckily Ross and I have each other, and he is
right, we are each others family and he is the person I am most grateful to be
spending not only my holidays but my life with.
We will have an amazing adventure and experience some great new places
together. Plus we can get as drunk as we
want and not have to worry about embarrassing the parents (but seriously mom
and dad would be drunk right along with me).
Christmas Party Dad, Ashley, Mom and I
Ashley and I at the Christmas Party
My family (minus Justin)
Ashley and Justin
I hope everyone out there reading
this is having a lovely time this holiday season whatever you celebrate Yule,
Christmas, Hanukkah, festivus etc. Appreciate the people who surround you,
enjoy their company even when they drive you crazy. Get lots of Christmas hugs for me and I will
drink lots of mulled wine for you! Enjoy
the snow if you have some where you are! I'm from Ontario there is nothing I love more than a snowy Christmas. It is raining here. Not Christmassy.
I am lucky to have an Aunt who is also my best friend
Went to the cemetery to visit Nana and we built her a snowman.
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