December has never been an easy month for me--my wedding anniversary, my birthday, my daughter's birthday, Christmas, and my step-mother's birthday all happen in this month. I always feel like I go from one celebration and party to another with little breathing room. I enjoy all the socializing, but the preparation and clean-up are stressful.
This year my step-sister flew down from Vancouver, WA to organize an early birthday party for her mother, who turned 99 this year. My father is also 99, and they married five and a half years ago. They had graduated from high school together in Fairhope, Alabama (in a class of 11), but then went their separate ways. They had kept in touch with each other with yearly Christmas cards, and they attended a high school reunion together. After my mother died in 1992, my father contacted Augusta (my step-mom) who had lost her husband as well. However, he decided to marry another woman that he knew. She died in 2001, and he courted Augusta. They got married, and are living in a retirement home. So, Sara (Augusta's daughter) organized a big birthday party, and I helped some.
I had asked my three children who are not living in Joplin to come together for a family Christmas celebration. My oldest daughter is Kristin, who lives in St. Louis. Erich is my oldest son, living in Kansas City, and he brought his girlfriend, Sarah, who seems like family as well. My youngest son, Aaron, is a student at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Kristin drove to Columbia, picked up Aaron, then they picked up Erich and Sarah in Kansas City and they all came down. My daughter Veronica turned 12 on December 15, and she really enjoyed seeing all her siblings. I had hired a caterer to prepare our main meal (a first for me--usually I prepare everything!) and he prepared enough food that we plenty to eat throughout their stay, which was only a little over a day. We had a gift exchange and played games, and had a wonderful relaxed family time. I don't have all four of my children together very often, so we took a lot of pictures. The picture at the beginning of this post is one of them.
The Sunday before Christmas I sang with our little choir at church. We had been practicing on four special pieces, and I really enjoyed performing them--both at the morning service, and again for a candlelight service in the evening. Music has always been a big part of Christmas for me; I love to sing the traditional carols as well as other beautiful Christmas music. It was a little difficult to sing this year, as I kept feeling like coughing, but interestingly, while I was performing with the choir, the urge to cough was not there.
During the lead-up to Christmas, I was getting the intravenous vitamin C treatments every other day, and by Christmas my lungs felt clear. I can still feel a tiny irritation when I take a deep breath, but the urge to cough every time I speak is gone.
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