With social distancing and lingering divisions over interfamily political differences, nobody was under the illusion that this year was going to be an easy Christmas. Last year’s photo echoed Norman Rockwell’s classic Freedom from Want and this year photos looked like an outdoor cook-out for unemployed bandits and surgeons.
Tim had to work at an out-of-state job site until late Christmas Eve and with homeschooling and online teaching, I had just enough motivation to pull off about a third of the normal family traditions.
Additionally, the mail was catastrophically backed up so my delivery groceries were languishing in a warehouse on the wrong side of Portland. The week leading up to Christmas, we ate through through our pandemic panic pantry. Even now, our holiday ham is not expected to be making an appearance until after the New Year.
And yet, with all of this, the Spirit of Christmas still was present here during the final days of December 2020.
We had a welcomed rain-break on Christmas Eve for a family nature walk with my brother and his wife and kids. Instead of gathering inside around a holiday-themed table, we cooked hotdogs over the back yard fire pit. Daddy even got home in time for s’mores.
After my brother’s family went home, we made Christmas cookies. While my goal was that we make them from scratch with cookie cutters passed down over the years, I had exactly just the energy to take a roll of Pillsbury dough out of the freezer and slice off two dozen semi-squished circles and bake them for the allotted time on the wrapper. I forgot how much they puffed up and most of them came out of the oven smashed together. The kids did not care that they were decorating squovals (square ovals) just as long as they were drenched in icing.
We put three on a plate for Santa and I asked Eliana to write a note. “Dear Santa,” she wrote ,”I would like a Lego set…”
“Honey,” I interrupted, “it’s too late to ask for more gifts.” Even though she cleverly disproved the notion of Santa at least a year ago, my sweet, sensitive third grader burst into tears. “Never mind, it’s great,” I reassured her. Tearfully she finished the letter and signed it from her and sister and went to bed. Since I did all the shopping and wrapping, I knew what Santa had and hadn’t brought.
Or so I thought.
The next morning, along with presents from Mommy and Daddy, there was super cute Lego set from the Pennsylvania relatives under the tree.
And if that doesn’t make us all believers, I don’t know what will. I hope you have safe and healthy holiday season and may the New Year bring hope, peace and many missing packages.
