A Christmas that Morphed into New Year’s Day

Only forty-two seconds left for the beginning of the 2012,
Times Square, New York City.  (TV Screenshot)

As I begin to tap out the first words of this post, it’s 10:33 pm on New Year’s Eve in the vicinity of the Nation’s Capital.  The darkness of the night has enveloped the area, and the family clan has just finished unwrapping Christmas gifts – a counter-cultural move, but one that worked out quite well for everyone.

This year, we all decided to tone down the holiday frenzy as much as we could by not packing in too many activities into the Christmas weekend.  That meant putting the gifts aside for later.

Instead, the clan agreed to congregate early on Christmas Eve at our home in Bridgewater, and to enjoy a reunion that would concentrate on the pure joy that comes from focusing solely upon one another, instead of upon the gifts that we traditionally exchange.

Good decision!  


We spent hours of family time around the kitchen table and later in the dining room, slowly feasting, drinking, and engaging in animated conversation long after the main dishes and the deserts were consumed.

It turned out to be one of the longest sit-down dinners that we have hosted on Christmas Eve. 

The cousins (one tween, three teenagers) had the advantage of no new electronic gadgets to distract them – that would come a week later – and, in the early evening, they promptly disappeared somewhere else in the house to catch up on the happenings in their own young lives.

The late night hours would find us in our churches commemorating the birth of Christ.

Thanks for reading, and may 2012 bring you, your friends and your loved ones a healthy and happy New Year.