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It is hard to believe that we are here already, again!
In just a few short days, all the hustle and bustle that we have been working through will stop and all the presents sitting under the tree will be unwrapped as another holiday season comes to a close.
This year, everyone in my family has the same big wish. To see my dad come home from ICU at the University of Kentucky.
These last few weeks we have been crossing our fingers and sending many prayers to the man up above that maybe, just maybe, this Christmas miracle can get pulled off.
The doctors say there is hope, and it is looking possible.
Even if we will have to all be around each other with face masks as we open gifts and eat Christmas diner, it is all we could ever ask for. That last one should be interesting to say the very least.
With that, even with all the gifts under the tree, all the lights hung around the house and all the cookies baked, nothing, and I mean nothing, beats family. This being our first Christmas together in three years, being able to all be together is all that we could ever wish for. But even if not, we have to focus on the fact that with the treatment he is receiving at UK, it is allowing him to be with us for many more years to come, and for that I am eternally grateful.
It is funny how you can become humbled at the holiday season. We often don’t give any thought to those around us that may be struggling or living with much less than we are fortunate to have. We often don’t pay attention to health, and can very possibly take many things for granted, like time once it has past.
Something that when it finally hits close to home, even if you always had a giving spirit before, the reality makes it hard to not acknowledge that this time of year is about so much more than the gifts under the tree, or the stockings hung by the fire.
It is to celebrate life. The birth of Christ. The year gone past, and all the years before us.
It is to gather with friends and family and share in moments together that we are all often too busy to stop and enjoy as the year rushes around us.
It is to remember the good, and the bad, and embrace them both as we also embrace each other and get ready to forge ahead into a year of unknown.
That to me is the true magic of Christmas.
It isn’t something that is bought from a store or made with tender loving care. It is the feeling that floats around us in all the festivities, the lights, the get-togethers and company parties. It is the life we feel. The love we share. And the memories we make that will always be more special, and undoubtedly last longer, than any Hallmark card or present bought from the mall.
This Dec. 25, I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Happy Holidays Jessamine County.