lxforever

“Hark how the bells! / Sweet silver bells / All seem to say / Throw cares away!”

—Mykola Leontovych & Peter J. Wilhousky

“Silent night, holy night! / Shepherds quake at the sight / Glories stream from heaven afar / Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia / Christ the Savior is born! / Christ the Savior is born”

—Franz Xaver Gruber & Joseph Mohr

“You mean Jesus was born on CHRISTMAS DAY?!”

—anonymous

Healthy, alive, and able. This was the thing I kept reminding myself of while we were an unknown-percentage into our horribly vomit-strewn journey to Madison on Friday. Nothing sadder than a little two-year-old covered in puke despondently looking up at you and saying “I throw up!”, tears glistening in fluorescent, as you both trudge to yet another gas station bathroom for cleanup. No use getting worked up when you’re halfway between nowhere and the only thing left is to push on (thank God for baby wipes), and the sickie is already distraught herself. Wow, that was not fun.

But we’re all healthy, alive, and able. (Even as we arrived in Madison and the sickness ripped through the rest of us, yuck.) That’s no small thing. To watch a 5-year-old read and write and make friends and invent stories and tap dance on a stage; to watch a 2-year-old draw her first recognizable picture, dance and twirl and run across the room without worry; these things aren’t always a given, so what an honor it is to witness. To joke with a healthy husband who should be here for years and years to come is not to take for granted, so what a privilege it is to have. To have family near and far with whom to celebrate, these holidays and these triumphs and everything in between, it’s a gift. Not everyone can throw cares away and delight in the present/these presents (isn’t that ever starker as the years and our country grow crueler), and I am incredibly lucky.

I was going to write something here about how I hope I do what I can to help those who aren’t as lucky, but as I sit in the comforts of my home with the toys from ‘Santa’ around the tree, this sentiment rings incredibly hollow, so I’ll just say good will to humans, and on Earth, peace. Merry Christmas!

This journal was posted on Monday, December 24th, 2018 at 10:04 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.