As this month rapidly comes to an end, I can only look back and ask myself, “Is it really over?” It seems like we just put up the Christmas lights and decorated the rooms. The outside is beautifully lit up letting visitors know they are welcome at our home on a cold winter night. “Come in!” we say and offer spiked eggnog and tell stories.
This is our first Christmas without our Tuco, and it is very hard. But we keep our minds occupied with happy thoughts and stay busy.
We started the month out by spending time with our good friends Dan and Laurie. They treated us to a magical night at the Desert Star Playhouse with a funny performance of GRINCHED! The cast of happy actors kept us entertained and laughing. The story was of the Grinch whose heart grew with love and spread happiness in the spirit of Christmas. At the end of the show, the performers changed clothes and sang Christmas carols in a more serious tone. All of them so blessed with talent. The pianist and guitarists really made it an enchanted evening. This was the start of our Advent season.
As with every holiday, there is baking. Our house smells delicious the whole month long. There is my traditional orange-cranberry bread for the special few I don’t want to forget this time of year. As a former delivery person myself, I know what it’s like to be out there in the elements all year long doing a sometimes-thankless job, so my mail deliverers and my garbage collector are always my number one folks on the gift giving list. And to see their faces light up when I give them this special gift, well, that is my gift to me.
Then there is a monumental amount of cookies and fudge for our friends and family. Decorating the cookies with my Sweetie is a tradition we started when we first met twenty-five years ago. We uncork a bottle of wine and get our artistic minds working. Well, maybe more Norbert’s than mine, but I try! And of course, we always have fun.
Our church services are more uplifting during Advent. The priest’s garments are more colorful and the altars are elaborately decorated with Poinsettias and Christmas trees. We celebrate our Lady of Guadalupe in the beginning of the month and the Nativity of Our Lord at the end. The children’s play with Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, angels, shepherds, star, wisemen and gifts is precious. Though not meant to be funny, kids say and do the most hilarious things.
Since we are without our Tuco this Christmas, we did what we know he would have wanted us to do. We gave the treats and toys he got from his Bark Boxes to his friends in the neighborhood. It made our hearts happy to see the excitement and smiles on his canine buddies faces when they opened his gifts. We know that we will have the gift of seeing him and his brothers again one day, but until then we will continue on our journey.
We had snow on Christmas eve and Christmas day! What a nice surprise as this month has been extremely warm. The next day it all melted, but hey, for a little while we got to experience a white Christmas.
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with those you love. And remember, it’s not about what you get but about what you give; a smile, a hug, compassion, or even your time. Keep the love of Jesus in your hearts all through the year and treat everyone with kindness. Until next time, God bless and hold each other tight.
Skip’s mom, Cb
Our Josh, Skip, Bear, and Tuco tree
Decorating the cookies
Our Lady of Guadalupe
The gifts of the Magi - lol
The children’s Christmas pagent
St. Marguerite’s altar
Tuco’s buddy Max showing happiness!
Tuco’s buddy Dupree showing happiness!