Then at least I bring you Hope.
For nothing is more precious
than the time we have, and so
We all must learn from small misfortune.
Count the blessings that are real.
Let the Bells ring out for Christmas
at the closing of the Year!"
-Hans Zimmer, "At the Closing of the Year"
That quotation has been running through my head the past couple weeks. I think it's because my family is going through a period of change, and all of the discomfort, confusion, and opportunities that come with it. We don't have much comfort this Holiday season, but a great, great deal of hope.
This is a strange Christmas in my family.
We are at once more, and less than we have always been.
We have 3 new spouses, 2 new neices, and a couple more little ones on the way. Our year has been such a year of abundance.
However, all this abundance has caused certain deficits. Less time for doing homemade stuff, less flexibility in schedules, leading to fewer scheduled family events. Less energy leading to less baking, less decorating, or any of the other finishing touches that make Christmas feel that much more...Christmas-y.
However, some traditions remain constant.
We always decorate our parents house on the 24th. This is because, as my parents explained to me when I was very young, before the 24th, it's not Christmas; it's Advent.
This lead to such a pleasant sense of expectation throughout the month of December, and to marvelous memories of Christmas Eve. Each year, we cheerily cover every available surface with decorations of every kind, ranging from beautiful victorian angels collected by my Grandmother, to the cheesy, paper things we made while still in pre-school.
So tomorrow, despite all the changes, we will be decking our halls, and preparing the way for the Christ-child in a blaze of light and joy.
In preparation, my sisters and I went to the Christmas tree farm to pick up some swags and a wreath for our parents door. It was lovely, and they were so very silly, so I felt the need to share.
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