Happy Epiphany, everyone!
How quickly 2023 has ended - a sign of aging, I suppose. At times, I think "how little I accomplished this year!" And then I sit down to write a Christmas letter and realize, no, this has been a very busy year. I have not yet mailed all of those cards, and now it almost seems irrelevant to do so. However, since I spent good money ordering them, and now I need to mail them. Every year, I am late sending them, and I sometimes think I should shear down my list, but I enjoy the moment of thinking of these old friends far and wide as I address their cards. Plus I always enjoy the yearly updates we receive, even if it's just a photo to remind me of how fondly I remember our friendships. Cards are an opportunity to think again how richly we've been blessed with friends; I am grateful for those memories. They are also an occasion to feel bittersweet about those times that have slipped away and the friends we no longer live close to. I miss our babies!
I may be suffering a bit from post-party depression. The older kids were all here for some part of the holidays and now have headed back to their respective homes. We didn't have a day where all the progeny were here together - their comings and goings were staggered, although we did have a couple days with most overlapping. I know the days are coming when they won't come home at Christmas any more, just as we stopped traveling back to our parents' homes for Christmas at some point. We did visit with our in-laws for a couple days, fortunately, but I am reminded again that those days are number. Both my father-in-law and my mother happen to be in the hospital as I type. My mother is being treated for tachycardia and my father -in-law for pneumonia. Both will be fine, according to the doctors, and should go home tomorrow. But it is yet another memento mori.
I did not mean for this to be a glum post - rather just an update about the Christmas holidays and the hopes for next year. I have yet to succeed in one of my New Year's resolutions, which is to go to be before 11, Here it is after midnight, so let me share some photos of our joyful gatherings over the holidays and return when my spirits are uplifted. We are waiting for the wisemen here with hopeful hearts for new beginnings in the new year.
