Pics or it didn’t happen?

Below, my daughter Claire and her boyfriend Paul :::

Paul is a bit blurry in this pic… or did he just drink too much wine?

I love Claire’s smile here… if Paul doesn’t marry her at some point he’s a knucklehead.

Claire and Paul have been together 5 years, a virtual eternity at their age…

The older I get the more I lean in the direction of tradition and family… so it was nice to have a full house last night, with my parents, my daughters, some friends from Church, and Paul’s father and his wife.

Some families don’t get together, for whatever reason… but my parents have always had a tradition of getting together, cooking, enjoying the holidays as a family.

Hopefully I’m continuing in that tradition.

It doesn’t take that much effort to make a bunch of dishes, set the table up, buy some wine… and after the isolation from Covid19 I’m even more grateful to be able to get together, laugh again, eat too much food… Mom supplied the tablecloth and Christmas dishes, others brought flowers and wine and hot dishes and desserts, it was a collective effort!

I remember especially the Christmas of 2017, my parents had gone north for the holidays, my girls were at their mother’s place for Christmas dinner… and I was totally alone, on Christmas. Perhaps for the first time in my life?

I got Chinese take-out. That day really sucked.

No one should spend Christmas alone.

No one in my family needs to be alone on Christmas, my house and table will always be open on Christmas day.

December 26th ::: 2021