Test results provide best Christmas gift

We received one of the best Christmas gifts ever this year. As you may know, grandson Jacob had brain surgery for Crookes Cell Adenoma. The MRI results from his three-month follow up showed no sign of regrowth and no sign of tumor! So very grateful, as this type of tumor has a strong tendency to return. 

The results came on Christmas Eve. Daughter Beth had the entire extended family gathered at her house. We were the only ones missing. She had scheduled herself to work on Christmas day. She had been obsessively checking the website where Jacob’s results were to be posted. 

Finally, on Christmas Eve the report popped up and Beth cried in relief. 

Her husband’s family has a tradition where everyone stands in a circle and holds hands. They then go around the circle and everyone tells what they are thankful for. We were down there a year or so ago and were privileged to be a part of the gathering. Most people were thankful for their family. When it came time for youngest grandson, Nicholas, to say what he was thankful for, he loudly proclaimed, “Ships!” The boy is an original.

This year when it came time for Beth to speak, she told everyone of Jacob’s results. She couldn’t get through it without tears of joy. We may not have been down there in body but we are overwhelmed with gratitude that Jacob is healthy for now.

When I think about Christmas, I have a hard time remembering the gifts I received. I have a feeling I will remember exactly what I received this year. 

We went to my brother Michael’s on Christmas day. He has bought a house in Lynn and is in the process of trying to make it livable. He and his wife, Diane, have done a lot of work on it since the last time we saw it but they still have a long way to go before they can move in for good. It is nice having him closer. 

It was a beautiful and unseasonably warm day. My other brother David and his son Jadyn joined us. We had our annual wrapping paper fight and I proved once again that I can’t hit the broad side of a barn, let alone family members.  

Now that Christmas is over it is time to put all the Christmas decorations back into their hiding places. I usually do this on New Year’s day but doubt if I wait that long this year. One year a metal Santa figure had frozen in place and had to wait a month or so before I could get him loose.

New Year’s Day is usually the time to decide what I want to accomplish this year. I try to make this something I can actually do, so this leaves out the ever popular resolution to lose weight. 

I am considering evicting a certain chipmunk. We haven’t seen it for awhile, so maybe the warmer weather has lured it back outside. 

We would also like to evict the squirrels who have discovered that the front porch soffit is a perfect place to nest. 

It is out of the weather and situated so that intruders are easily thwarted. I keep hoping that the hawk that stops by for dinner every so often will decide it wants squirrel or maybe chipmunk instead of bird but so far it prefers things with feathers.

The seed catalogs have already begun arriving with their siren songs. Between the lush photographs and the copy that convinces me that I can fill my flower beds with beautiful blossoms, I don’t have a chance at restraint. 

I have found it is enough to grab a highlighter and mark everything I want. 

If I ordered half of what I marked there would be no room for grass. 

Christmas is over. The New Year is before us. We are eternally grateful that our Jacob is healthy. Now, where are those plant catalogs?