Family sings a new song at Christmas

I am surrounded by books to read, bulbs to force and toys to play with. All of that is good but better still is the afterglow of a perfect holiday.

My husband and I had our own celebration earlier in the day. Gracie, the calico cat, enjoyed the presents my husband bought for her almost as much as I loved the ones he bought for me.

It rained off and on all the way to Mom's. We picked her up and headed for my brother David's house. We were the last to arrive. We caught up, we ate, we caught up some more. We unwrapped presents and soon there was a flurry of wrapping paper flying across the room. Someone lobbed one at my ear and several more bounced off my head. Even the dog got in on the fun, He tried to eat the paper and was disappointed when we took it away from him. Their cat hid until the paper stopped flying.

David said something about singing carols. He decided it was a dumb idea even though it was originally his idea. We did it anyway. Picture a family gathered around the Christmas tree. We are all holding the hand-written words to a song. The teenager is charged with setting up the prerecorded garmin.com commercial that we will try to follow. I think they sell navigation systems. My sister-in-law sets up the video camera with a threat to upload our efforts onto the internet.

Several takes later we are beginning to learn the words and then we decide that we are ready. The camera rolls. Apryl, the aforementioned sister-in-law, scurries to join us. We are all singing. The music is playing in the background. It is a beautiful moment.

Except . . .

None of us are singing the same words at the same time! The commercial finishes its part long before the rest of us do. There is uncontrolled laughter and we try it again. We did better the second time but again the music is over and we are still singing. We burst into a chorus of, "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth," and call it a wrap.

Later in the day my other brother, Michael, takes me out to see the land he purchased. I use the term land loosely. It is only a few minutes away but it looks like a cross between an abandoned property and a dump site. There are traces of a foundation and tiny ramshackle buildings fit only for raccoons. It is overgrown and in another few years could be termed a miniature swampy forest.

His plan is to clean it up and build a house there. It is raining and muddy . . . and peaceful. It is wonderful to spend a few minutes alone with my brother and his dream. I have always admired his ability to dream.

Michael has always been the dreamer. David is the one who makes me laugh. Mom is our anchor; the glue that holds us together. Me, I bake cookies. Our children and spouses complete us and give us depth. Together we are a family; imperfect at best but always full of fun.

The day after Christmas a package arrives from my daughter. It is our presents from her. I am currently wearing the fuzzy purple socks she sent. She even wrapped and sent my pajamas that I left there last time we visited. I thought I would never get those back!

The days after Christmas were relaxing and easy. Now it is time to get back to work and the routine of everyday life. I hope your holiday was as enjoyable as mine was. If not, there is always room at our table for one more.[[In-content Ad]]