I just got back from Kansas last night and the visit was just wonderful. Maybe one of the most fun visits Ive had there. My brother and I grew up with the family tradition of going over to Kansas for Christmas every year. We would have spaghetti dinner at my Great Grandparents house followed by presents from them on Christmas Eve. We would sit and talk and my Uncle Bill and I would play the piano. Then on Christmas day we would have a huge home cooked meal by all the women in the Wilson family and open gifts from everyone else at my Grandparents house. Their house was….and is….filled with every form of antique you could imagine. The tree even has antique bubble lights on it that my brother and I would flick in order to get the bubbles to work. Kind of hard to describe, but lets just say it was a vintage Christmas. It was a home filled with warmth and laughter. Yes, our family has its fair share of issues and drama but during that time…at least to my eyes growing up….those issues were put aside for Christmas.
My Great Grandparents eventually passed away and the traditions of our family were forced to change. Christmas became new, and the traditions that I clung to changed to new traditions….or attempted to. I don’t think I have experienced the full feeling of Christmas that I grew up feeling until this year. Not to say that the other times were bad, it just was missing the piece of the puzzle and the faces I was so use to seeing.
So this Christmas I was able to go with my parents back to Kansas. We spent a day with my moms side of the family and I got to hang out with my fun cousins. We played games and laughed a lot. Then went and had an impromptu ghost hunt at the Historic Leather Rock Hotel. Not necessarily Christmas activity but it was with family I don’t get to see often and we had a great time. We ended the night by watching the movie Psycho the old black and white version. The next day we went to Church with my Dads side of the family and spent the day eating and talking. There weren’t presents to open or anything like that, but just being around all of that family again at one time was so nice. To laugh and enjoy each others company and to share what is going on in each others lives is something I have missed. I flicked the lights on the old Christmas tree to get the bubbles to work, and it just felt like Christmas to me. Little things that growing up I didn’t even notice or appreciate, now take on a reminder of family and togetherness that I feel is so needed. I think what recent events in our nation and others can remind us of is that we are not guaranteed tomorrow and to cherish the family you have….warts and all. J
Today is Christmas Eve and as my mother starts preparing food for tomorrow and my day finishes up projects around the house I sit for a moment here in the old red chair from my Great Grandparents house and thank God for the blessings. I have a family who I love with all my heart and we have all been though our share of struggles and strife, but I am humbled with the support and care that we all have for each other. Care that continues to grow with times. Grandma, Grandpa, Lani, Pete, Laurie, Bill, John, Mary, Devin, Steffani, Logan, Guinevere, Terri, Mike, Matt, Megan, Michelle, Grandma Wells, Mom, Dad, Justin, Chealsie, and the two sweet pups Boogie and Charlie….I am proud to call each one of you my family and each one of you has had an impact on my life. I pray for a year of blessing ahead, a year of growth and learning, a year of giving and of encouraging one another.
Merry Christmas!
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