Blest be The Tie that Binds....

Beautiful Ribbon!

This is going to be hard for me to write. I am crying already...
This Blog has been in my head for months. Oh, who am I kidding, years...

You see, like these ribbons, my family is everywhere.
Some of us meet in places quite a bit, others we only meet occasionally, and some, well we're lucky if we can get together once or twice in a 20 year span...

But if I could, I would squeeze them all in my tiny apartment for hours and fill myself up with LOVE and JOY.
Oh the remembered days of gathering at both my grandparents with family at Christmas!
How I miss those days!!

Being woken up by our own children at 5 am in the morning, pretending we did not hear them when they really got up at 3 am. Listening to them wrangle about who would come and wake us and what time did they think we wouldn't say "go back to sleep!". They too are now spread out and far enough away that it can be a chore for them to come on Christmas. And I want them to have the opportunity to form their own Christmas traditions.

But, at this time of year more than any other, I miss my sisters and brothers.
I miss the ability we have to sit in a room and just get each other. maybe not always agree with each other, but certainly accept and love one another. When we were younger, and times were hard, we used to tell each other that when it came down to it, we were the best friends we would ever have. Each other!

I have never laughed so hard, never cried so profusely, never played so freely, or danced and sang so joyfully as I ever have with them.

But more than that, I respect them, I like them! I like what makes them each who they are. All their quirks
( and believe me I have more than a few of my own ) , only serve to endear them to me. Watching their family's as they have grown and changed and wishing I could be closer to share in each special moment.

I still remember getting up with them early on Christmas morning and looking for reindeer tracks on the porch roof. Opening our presents and being so happy at the coming day full of Family and visiting. You would think it was the presents. But, no, not so much for me. It was the people...

Now years later, as Christmas draws closer, that" tie that binds" tugs at my heart more and more. I can feel them, as bright and wonderful as those colorful ribbons, familiar and comforting. So close, but so far. Time, like the silky ribbons slipping through my fingers

I wish I had paid better attention, appreciated that time and the people more.
Because I see that it is getting harder and harder, with life and distance, to align the ribbons of our life and to come together.

But in my heart, we are all together, all our family, here, squished into my tiny apartment. There is LAUGHTER and SONG, TEARS of JOY and SHARING. Because distance and life can never take away the tie that binds, LOVE!

I love you, Bonnie, Naomi, David, Michael and Chris. Merry Christmas.

Laurie, David, Bonnie, Michael, Naomi, and Chris