Togetherness is the most important part

It is Christmas evening. Presents still linger along with stray bits of wrapping paper. The cat is staring at me. The memories of the day make me happy.

Yesterday I was making cookies when the mixer began making an alarming clatter. I shut it off and was surprised to see a part of one of the beaters in the batter. The beater had fallen apart. I fished it out. It worked fine when I turned it back on. Just to be on the safe side, I mixed the second batch of cookies by hand.

When I told my brother David about it, he accused me of sounding like our mother because I intend to replace the beater and not the entire mixer. I am guilty as charged. I don’t fit well in this disposable society I find myself in.

My husband and I exchanged gifts Christmas morning before heading out to my brother Michael’s place. We have found that there are perfect gifts and we give each other some of the same things every year. It’s easy and we are always guaranteed to be pleased. It took years for us to learn that it was not only acceptable but preferable to be predictable.

We drove through foggy weather and arrived just a little late at Michael’s. His wife greeted us and said that Michael was at church and should be home soon. We unpacked our presents and set the cookies on the table.

Michael came home and as we were getting caught up David and his family came in. We had a very nice lunch. Any food I don’t have to cook is always good. Not having to clean up is even better.

As we were opening presents my daughter called. I was trying to talk to her when the annual wrapping paper fight started. I had foolishly given David and his wife and son cheap Nerf guns. In addition to being pelted with wrapping paper I was also repeatedly shot. Needless to say, I only heard part of the conversation.

I think she told me that the kids liked the presents we sent and that the oldest grandchild figured out that I had sent the letter from Santa. They like the tradition anyway and asked that I continue to hold the temporary job of Santa’s official scribe.

David and his family had another celebration to attend so they left early. We stayed a while longer before we headed back out into the fog.

As we drove down the twisty road, I mentally counted the houses that had popped up since I had lived in that area. The place where my high school once stood is now a parking lot. We passed the space where the little house used to be then slowed once we got to Ithaca.

We pulled into the cemetery and visited Mom’s grave. My husband replaced some plastic flowers that had fallen over. We wished her a Merry Christmas and got back into the car. We talked about how different Christmas was than it used to be.

All in all it was a good day. We are safely at home with no plans to leave any time soon. Yes, it was different. Loved ones are missing. We spent less than usual but we didn’t skimp on what was important. We all made the effort to spend time together. It is the togetherness that is important. That, and giving both brothers the ammunition to pelt me with paper wads and shoot me while I’m on the phone.

I hope your holiday was as pleasing as mine was.