Christmas Day

We are blessed. I have been quite depressed the last few weeks and not looking forward to Christmas. Our finances have been such this year that there wasn't any money for presents. We were able to buy Zander the 3 things that he "ordered" from Santa with money that he received from Grandma's. I was watching this video later on Christmas Day and I realized that I was crying. I looked under the tree at the few things that he had and was sad. But, then I realized that he was happy and I should have been happy also. After all, we made it through another year without losing any family members. I then read the obituaries for two young people that we knew that were to be buried this week and thought about their families and  children and how sad they must be this Christmas and probably each Christmas to come.
It made me think about New Year's Eve the year that my Grandfather died. It was the first year that I didn't go to my Grandparents house that night with the rest of the family. I chose to go out with some friends instead. I got the call about 11:15 telling me to come to the hospital. They waited until we were all there and right around midnight they came in and told us that he didn't make it. Every year on New Year's Eve we all gather and instead of it being a joyful time, there are very sad undertones to the whole evening, but we are all together. It is never easy to lose a loved one, but it is especially hard to lose one on a holiday.
I went on to Uncle Steve's house and smiled as I looked around at all of the family members that could gather there on that day. (We missed you Aunt Jennifer and family) The kids had a great time playing together and the grown ups ate way to much, watched Christmas Vacation 2 times and had fun playing Pictionary. It was a great day after all and I am very thankful for my family.
Oh, about Zander's order. When I took Zander to see Santa this year, he got on his lap and Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas. Without thinking he said, "I would like to order, a Megatron, Optimus Prime and a green light saber." I have tried several times to tell him that you don't place an order with Santa, you tell him things that you would like to have and he decides what to bring you. But when anyone asked what he wanted for Christmas, he continued to say, " I ordered........". It was really cute. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to everyone from our family.