All 11 of us gathered in a circle on fold up chairs in the living room to play pass the parcel, exchange white elephant gifts and to play other cheesy Christmas games that included opening gifts with oven mits -it was so much fun! Growing up my Dad never really paraticipated in things like this. You could usually find him out in the garage tinkering with the cars, fixing something but you wouldn’t catch him playing “warm and fuzzy” games with the family. Over these past few years, I’ve seen a total transformation……he not only participated, but he enjoyed himself and laughed-especially when his white elephant gift was a pair of women’s Christmas socks.
As the night came to an end and we gathered up all of the gifts to load them into the car, I couldn’t help but feel blessed. We might not have had alot of money growing up-I mean I had teenage parents, my Mom was only 15 and my Dad was 17….they were kids raising kids. We might not have had the most beautiful house on the block growing up, hell we certainly didn’t have name brand clothes or expensive electronics BUT as I walked out the front door to get in the car and the sound of chatter and laughter was behind me I realized that all this time…..We were sooo rich!
The only person who was missing that night was my sister, but somehow during all the games we played that evening, there was always an empty chair in the circle. I couldn’t help but wander if that was intentional. I know she wasn’t there in person but I know she was there in spirit….how else would I have ended up with the worste white elephant presents!! HAHA! Just joking, I actually made out good: 6 pair of Christmas socks. HAHAHA! Also, another ironic thing, the other day I mentioned in my blog post about my sister, that “it’s all about the journey”…… as I unwrapped my present from my parents, it was “The Journey” necklace. She was there….I just know it! 🙂
Below are pictures from our Christmas Eve with Family #1….I’ll blog Family #2 later this week! 🙂
