I had a beautiful tree, made my grandmother's mince meat, had not 1 but 2 Pinterest successes, made gingerbread houses, made hot pepper jelly, ruined gingerbread houses making hot pepper jelly, pepper gassed the house making hot pepper jelly, again.
My cousin from Halifax stopped by with girlfriend in tow, I made them wild blackberry pie, drank beer, burned dinner, drank more beer, laughed a lot. Had pie for breakfast.
My mom and aunt came up, cooked up a storm, got in a car accident, had dinner (I didn't make them pie, I made fajitas), had Chinese take out for Christmas Eve, my aunt and uncle came by for Christmas dinner, Mom made my bed, lots more laughs, my aunt started calling my mom Crash (it's never too soon), lots of gifts and treats from the family, in addition to treats one of my aunts sent up a box of my grandparents photos, can't wait to get into those.
All in all a rollicking, good time.
The tree, so shiny
So very, very tall
So very, very tall
What just happened?
Pinterest 1 and 2
Meringue Christmas trees
Lemon Sugar cookies
recipes forthcoming
Treats, boxes and boxes of treats
Treasure, my precious
It wasn't all fun and games, I also had the chance to see and participate in some truly generous moments.
My cousin drove 4 hours out of her way to be able to surprise my partner with a visit that lasted about an hour. He adores her, They laughed and joked like they'd seen each other yesterday. I'm not sure she will ever be able to appreciate how much that brief visit meant to the both of us or how amazing it was to see them being with him, talking with him all on his terms. No talking over him because it's so hard for him to communicate, no bitching we drove all this way stay up a little longer. Just being present.
My father had my mother send flowers not just to my partner but to the two women who share his dining room table as well. Just a small thank you for being so nice to him.
My aunts got together and made things specifically for my partner. Box after box of his favourites. A way of saying we miss you and are thinking of you.
I knew one of the ladies at his dining room tale was having a tough time this year. I bought her a bottle of perfume her husband used to buy for her just to remind her of better days. She was laughing at the table with us, sticking our her green festive tongue from those little meringue Christmas trees.
It was awesome.
Now if you're thinking that was the unexpected gift, you'd be wrong. I can always depend on my family for fellowship and good times. The last few years have been tough being away from it as much as I have been.
It came with the new year. It marked the 41st month. He beat the odds. Every day, from that day forward, is an unexpected gift.
I didn't make any resolutions. I don't expect 2016 will be particularly kind to us. I will graciously accept that gift and hold tight to it what ever may come.
May 2016 bring you the best of everything, unexpected or not.
