Family: The Best Holiday Gift, Part 2 – Christmas 2013

Family:  The Best Holiday Gift, Part 1 – Thanksgiving 2013

In last week’s post, I learned a valuable lesson; “You can’t have a better tomorrow if you’re always thinking about yesterday.” (Unknown).

No doubt, I am stepping outside the boundaries of a “writer’s privilege;” but, the reverse order of this quote provides a better explanation of what happened in my case.

• “Thinking about yesterday,” I broke a more than fifty-three year family tradition of spending Thanksgiving with our Children.  Guided by the FEAR of a replay from the previous year, I chose to stay in warm Florida rather than expose my compromised immune system and serious lung condition to cold Wisconsin.

• “You can’t have a better tomorrow.”  Why?  In choosing to make a decision about tomorrow, I relied on FEAR and ignored the commonly held theory that FEAR is:   False Evidence Appearing Real.  This view was validated when I was admitted to the hospital in warm Florida for seven days, including Thanksgiving Day, with both an immune system problem and lung condition.

As it turned out, even though I didn’t spend Thanksgiving with family, I found HAPPINESS in the PRESENT” through unexpected Gifts.

 Family:  The Best Holiday Gift, Part 2

What a beautiful Gift for ME and Hubby over the Christmas Holidays in the PRESENCE of the special people who bring happiness into MY Space on a daily basis.  I am strengthened throughout the year, as the receiver, of their Gifts of encouragement, unconditional love, and support.

MY IPAD Amateur Photo Gallery

Hoping to avoid having to answer over-and-over again, “What are we eating?” I prepared the week’s menu so everyone knew what to expect:

Christmas 2013 Menu

I was able to capture the images below of my Gifts on an IPAD camera during their seven-day visit.   While, the photos may not be appealing to the eye, they will join the other memorable treasures of past family gatherings.   For, I truly believe, “memories are a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.” (Unknown)

Hubby and Youngest Granddaughter –His Little Cupcake

Younger and Elder Daughters

Son and His Five-Year-Old Daughter (AKA, Cupcake)

Nephew/Surrogate Son

Son-In-Law Married to Elder Daughter

Eldest Grandson (24-years-old) and Baby Sister

Granddaughter (22-years-old) and Grandson (17-Years-Old)

Youngest Grandson (13-years-old) 

Cupcake said, “I got this Banana Pudding!!

The Only One that Still Believes in Santa

Last Day – Quality Time with Two Granddaughters – Pedi/Mani

Visit Over – ME and MY Quality Time

Closing this week’s post, with the memorable family quotes I choose to embrace:

• “Having someone to love is a family.  Having a place to go is a home.  Having both is a blessing.” (Donna Hedges)
• “If the family were a fruit, it would be an orange, a circle of sections, held together but separable – each segment distinct.”  (Letty Cottin Pogrebin)
• “What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life – to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories.” (George Eliot)
• “I sustain myself with the love of family.”  (Maya Angelou)
• “Spending time with the ones who are dear to you is like being in a dream is it not?”  (Sakura Tsukuba, Land of the Blindfolded, Vol. 3)