Home for the holidays
Jeff and Pasha enjoy being home for the holidays, Christmas Eve 2006.
“Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays…” — Al Stillman
As of last night, we are HOME. Though we are exhausted, I can’t remember a time when we’ve been happier to be here! Thanks for being here with us!
One year ago today
This post was first published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.
Defeat Despair 
Wow! I could feel that huge release of pressure through your photo, quote, and short post.
I’m sure that this year feels very different. Are you still able to capture some of that relief at home as Christmas approaches? I hope so. I’m praying for you and your family.
It’s odd about Christmas this year; on the surface of it, it should be the most depressing year for us since right after Jeff died. Yet for me, it has been the first year that I have felt anything even close to Christmas spirit. For example, it’s the first year that I’ve been able to bear listening to my favorite Christmas music, let alone actually enjoying it. I hope that’s a sign of things to come. Thank you for praying for us. I honestly and truly believe it makes all the difference, and that prayers can be sensed by the person for whom one is praying, even from miles away.
What a special picture. Such mixed emotions, looking at it, I’m sure.
Susan, definitely. The other day I was cleaning out and found what I long ago had concluded (based on trying to use it) was a bad portable hard drive. I had been so frustrated that all my backed up files had been lost. Before discarding it I decided to try it again, on a much newer computer than the one I had used when I backed it up. Lo and behold, it worked! And a lot of files I thought were lost, turned up again…among which were some grainy videos I made at our last big Christmas party in 2010. Mesmerized, I watched all of them. There was Jeff, alive again, laughing and enjoying our many friends, most of whom have now moved on to other locations. There was our York home, all decorated and filled with merriment. I’m glad I didn’t find the hard drive until now; it might have destroyed my composure and left me in tears. But this year is different somehow; perhaps a gift from the global darkness of Covid? The unquenchable light of Christmas is starting to shine for me again, and along with the sadness and loss I felt, there was a deep joy that it all really was true, it really did happen; I had not imagined it. And it was even more wonderful than I knew then. I hope very much to have a far more glorious reunion with all of those people and countless more, someday…thank you so much for being here!! It means more than I can say.
You all make it down here for the holidays? We wanted to go to NYC,but did not make it up there either.
No, I have no plans ever to return to my hometown anytime in the foreseeable future. Sad, but it’s a place of sorrow for me now.
I heard this Xmas song for the first time last week on Kiss 104.1 Atlanta. “Jesus was born in the last month of the year,” Blind boys of Alabama. I recommend it if you like gospel which i do.
I just recently heard of that group for the very first time. I don’t keep up with current music very much. Not really into gospel music, though there are some songs we’ve sung at church that I like, and I love to hear my friend Pat sing it. Mostly I listen to classic rock if I listen at all, though our wonderful public radio station (WHRO in Norfolk) plays on Alexa whenever Matt is here. I highly recommend that all-music station. Just ask Alexa to “tune to WHRO” and you’ll have a classical feast anytime.