CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS

Does Christmas make anyone else melancholy besides me?  Maybe it's because I'm older now, much older, but I have such mixed feelings about Christmas.  I think about the early ones I had, with my grandparents.  My sister and I sleeping in the same twin bed on Christmas Eve listening for the reindeer, the anticipation building and the agony of waiting until 7 am before we could wake anyone up. Those Christmases were so happy, so carefree. Then there were Christmases when my children were young.  HB and I had so much fun getting everything ready after the children went to bed.  Well, maybe HB didn't have so much fun all the time, because he was the one responsible for putting all the toys together, and it seemed there was always a missing nut or bolt.  The looks on the kid's faces Christmas morning always made everything worth it though.
Now we have grandchildren and the first couple of years were wonderful.  It's been harder since my son's divorce because he has the children every other year and this year is his off year.  We will miss them.  We will celebrate several days later with them and our daughter and her family and I know we are lucky that we have a family to be with.  I think the melancholy has to do with all the people who are gone from my life, especially my grandparents.  My sister and I were so loved by both of our grandmothers and our grandfather.  I'm almost 70 years old and I still miss them.  In memory, I think times always seem better than perhaps they really were in real life.  I don't know, I just know my memories make me feel happy. I'm the one providing the memories now.  I hope someday my grandchildren will remember HB and me and have great memories of our time together.  It's how we will live on.

MORE WORDS

I swear, sometimes these things just jump out at me!!!  This is the best one I've seen in a long time.

AND IT'S ANOTHER BABY PICTURE

Sorry, I know people aren't crazy about looking at pictures of other people's grandchildren, but I just had to show this one of Jake.  He went shopping for his first Christmas tree.  I just love his outfit, and he has that serious look on his face that his brother always had when he was that age.

                                               

I really liked having something nice to write about since it's been a pretty crummy week.  Sara had a bad fall at Day Spring, the community where she lives.  Since she can't identify where she hurts it becomes a guessing game to find out where the injury is.  This time is was in the place I always feared and knew was coming.  She apparently fell face first and hit her teeth on the floor.  She has a big chip out of one of her front teeth and the other front tooth looks like someone took a chisel to it.  It has tiny gouges all over the front surface of the tooth where enamel is missing.  I called her dentist and we are going in on Monday morning.  I just feel so sad for Sara.  I would give anything, and I do mean anything, if she could just tell us what hurts.  I would also give that "anything" if she could just keep her balance and not fall as often as she does.  She is so sweet and happy all the time. I   don't understand why the most innocent have to suffer so much sometimes.