Gosh, amazingly we got through it! And it went much MUCH better than we thought it would. The week leading up to Christmas was stressful, but that's not unusual.
Women + Christmas = Stress
Anyhow, Brian came home the week before Christmas and this time we got to spend gobs of time with him. That was truly nice and special. He's grown so much in the past year. Living out on his own has been good for him. I imagine it's had it's difficulties too. Especially considering he gained 15 pounds while home in less than a week! As a mom, it makes me think that maybe he's not eating!!! Anyhow, I honestly believe every mom needs a son like Brian especially while going through menopause and emotional difficulties. He really centers me and reminds me when to take deep breaths etc.... He's also not afraid to tell me I talk too much. And he does it in such a way as to not hurt my feelings. That's a great gift.
Nathan worked throughout the holiday. Working retail at Best Buy and then also playing trumpet in the Venice Symphony and at church. So between rehearsals and work, we didn't see much of Nate until Christmas Day when he surprised Mark and I with some truly wonderful gifts. A sunset cruise dinner out of Sarasota!!! A new monitor for the computer!!! (We discussed in an earlier blog about old TVs dimming until there was just a dot! Well, our old monitor was starting to look like an Etch A Sketch with missing pixels.) And a humongous flat screen television set! It was the first I'd seen Mark genuinely smile in weeks. He was trying not too. Saying "too much money....." and so on but I could tell he was pleased.
Noah and Adam? Santa and their grandparents spoiled them rotten....... That's all I can say! Noah was fascinated that we had an "old" tree. I think he thought it was old because it was "real". His other grandparents (the Goffs) and Nathan have fake trees. So Noah saw ours and said "grandma have old tree?" "grandma tree dirty?" Well, I have to admit it wasn't the largest tree on the block but it wasn't necessarily a Charlie Brown tree either. Then Noah started getting into it. Look up through the bottom at the lights, putting his hand in the tree water, fingering all the various whimsical ornaments.
Adam? What was he doing? He was being a human metronome. Trust me. I can't describe in words. You'd have to see it to believe it.
Christmas Eve Brian roasted the most amazing goose stuffed with fried apples and oranges. It was a feast. Noah was thrilled to be eating goose. And during the meal out of the blue actually yelled "I'm happy, grandma!" and then later nuzzled as close as he could and yelled "I LOVE YOU!" It was so cool. What was Adam doing through out all this, just smiling the way he does. Adam is starting to talk up a storm. He's echoing Noah now. And has learned several words.
After dinner, Brian, Noah, Adam and I took a walk to see the Christmas lights on our street. Adam enjoyed that. Gosh. He just takes off if you let him.
So Christmas went well. I missed my family up north. Mark missed his brother. We all missed Denise, of course. But when you watch Noah and Adam you see Denise everywhere. She's never far away when they're around. They both have an impish smile that's pure Denise.
On Christmas night Mark and I had to drive Brian back to Tampa. That was actually nice. Brian turned us onto "Delilah" on the radio. I felt like we were in the movie Sleepless In Seattle. I think Mark enjoyed it too. Just peace and Christmas carols. She was a little overfond of "the Little Drummer Boy" but... what the hey.
Miss you already, Brian! Come home soon!
