1. When you lose a loved one during the holidays, it makes you realize how truly special your relationship with the rest of your family is.
The hugs were a little tighter and lingered a little longer this year. My Grandma passed away early Thursday morning. She had been pretty much as healthy as a 96 year old woman could be until last week. She got a stomach bug, went on hospice care and passed away pretty much over night. Most of us got to see her just 8 hours before she died peacefully in her sleep. Just the way things should be.
On a lighter note. Callie came with me for our last visit. My Grandma didn't have her teeth in. This made Callie a little squeemish, (me too, but thems' the facts of life!) Callie needed a bit of an explanation for the lack of teeth. Simply put, sometimes when you get older you lose all your teeth and have to have fake teeth instead. From that point on Callie kept asking to "please see Great Grandma's "pretend" teeth." Kids are such good buffers sometimes!
2. My belief about Trent having my pain tolerance is still solid.
In the middle of our party all 5 boys came into the kitchen saying, "Aunt Jenny, Trent hit his head and he's bleeding." Trent's face was red, but he wasn't crying. He had his hand on the back of his head, but there wasn't really any blood. As soon as I took his hand away the blood started streaming. A deep gash right smack in the center of the back of his head. A clean cut from the corner of a file cabinet. I am sooooooooo glad it stopped bleeding quickly and we did not have to go to the ER on Christmas Eve!
3. If you get to church at just the right time, you can get a seat and if you bring a coloring book, you can keep a 3 yr old and your 4 yr old entertained for the entire 1.5 hours.
Last year we did Christmas at the Barn. A live nativity scene. I thought it was great. Apparently I was the only one since it was completely vetoed this year. So church it was. We left the house later than we planned and I thought for sure we'd be standing. Everyone got to sit, shoulder to shoulder, but we had a pew! I brought a coloring book and some crayons, Kim brought a coloring book and crayons. The girls made it pretty far into the service until Callie had enough of trading coloring books. Molly didn't like this one bit. Here-in lies the difference between 3 yr olds and 4 yr olds. At least Callie had some wisdom to "share"....
4. "Christmas is about giving."
With Molly pouting on the pew, Callie reminds her of the meaning of Christmas. This is interesting advice coming from a girl who didn't want to share.
The sadness of my grandma's death was a small part of this holiday and my family choose to celebrate as we always have. We remembered the special person she was and the place she held in our hearts. It still really was one of my best Christmas's. And I know my Grandma is now an angel watching over all of us.
