Covid Journal, Day 283: Blessings of Family

23 and clear this morning. We had about 4" of snow for Christmas Day, with temperatures never reaching 20 degrees. Down to the teens that night, then yesterday, even colder. Now it's up to about 49 and the sun is shining, melting the snow and ice.

What a beautiful, blessed holiday we had here. After months of not seeing family, we were finally able to be together for a short time. It's been wonderful, as you can imagine.

We picked up our youngest son, Tommy, at the airport in Charleston just as the rain changed to snow. 

The drive home was very snowy, with icy roads as the temperatures had dropped precipituously. But all was well, and we came in to light the fire and talk and talk and talk.

In the morning, we were greeted by such beauty.

Christmas morning we had a leisurely breakfast, then our 3rd son, Derek, arrived, and soon after came his 2 daughters, son and his grandson. We had a grand time talking and exchanging gifts, and of course, eating. All the cooking and baking I'd done during the week came into good use. The grandkids insisted on eggnog so we made a big batch. The fire burned merrily, the lights twinkled, and it was as nice a Christmas as I can remember.

After multiple attempts, a group photo. 

This brought back memories--wet boots, gloves, coats, snow melting...so much like when all my boys were young and we had a snowy day.

A few sad remained, as the eggnog get ready to be consumed, with or without brandy, depending on age and inclination.

Then yesterday, Boxing Day, my oldest son, his wife and daughter came. They drove all the way across snowy, icy West Virginia to spend about 6 hours with us before heading back across the mountains. So we had three of our four sons with us yesterday, along with several of their children,and of course little Ryland, our great-grandson/Derek's grandson. Granddaughter Grace brought a beautiful basket with a pineapple, cookies and cake she'd made, lovely rolls, and summer sausage. More good eating commenced. I got our the ham, venison pot roast, chili, potato and corn salads, pies and other leftovers from the day before. I was so busy visiting, I forgot to take photos, but Hannah took a few.

Going to see the chickens with his Uncle Jared and Great-Uncle Tommy. The little man sure had a good time.

Jared and Tommy, from opposite ends of the country, are more like brothers than uncle and nephew. Tommy lives in Miami, Jared in LA.

The house was full of laughter and chatter, a welcome, welcome sound after so many months of just Larry and me rattling around in here. As for safety, I believe we were fine. Many had already had the virus, and the others were either quarantined or had been tested just prior to Christmas. There's always a chance of the bug slipping in of course, but I felt comfortable. And with the doors swinging open every few minutes, we were certainly well-ventilated.

One of the funniest moments of the day was when Tommy went to open the sliding glass door and it fell inward--fortunately our strong son caught it before it fell completely. Apparently ice had built up in the track, forcing the door off the track and it just fell. We got it working somewhat, and this morning, when it had warmed to 33 outside, we took the door off and Larry completed the repair, so all is well again. Tommy said, "Oh well, I've pulled my refrigerator door off...twice." Did I mention he's very strong?

Today we're quieter. Resting, doing a little cleaning, more talking with Tommy, some laundry and some ebay packing have been the excitement today. Tomorrow we take Tommy to the airport very early, so the rest of the day will be kind of a letdown, I suppose.

But boy, what a good time we've had.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.