Year’s end

At this time last year, LOML and I had a house full of family. All, except the Burlington kids and their kids, were here for the holidays. When LOML and I had a moment to ourselves, we had wondered if it would be the last time everyone—almost everyone—came home for Christmas. I remember thinking, in that moment, it would be okay with me if we spent Christmas at home, all by ourselves, in 2014. Over the next 11 months we occasionally spoke of the possibility of a quiet holiday for two. There wouldn’t be an 89-pound turkey and a 72-pound ham vying for room in our 36-inch oven. I wouldn’t spend seven hours peeling potatoes, or ages looking for a basket big enough for 57 dinner rolls. I wouldn’t wonder if four quarts of gravy would be enough. He and I actually became giddy at the thought of being able to shower without checking the bathroom schedule. We dreamed about having a peaceful breakfast—coffee, newspaper, music, crosswords.

By the end of October, we were still a bit shaky when we thought about all of those breakfast, for 12 people. Two dozen eggs, three pounds of bacon, enough toast to pave a driveway, a box of cereal, two litres of milk and two litres of orange juice barely got them to lunch time, and then it all started over. Our home was filled with so many people we ended up getting an extra newspaper each day—to be read at breakfast, sections left in bathrooms and the rest to wrap the green bin garbage. On top of a table full of food and newspapers, our two little girls visiting—the grandgirls—brought story books, Barbie dolls and Polly Pockets to the meal table mix. Occasionally, I have to admit, LOML and I pretended to need something from the barn and wandered out back to just to get some peace and quiet.

Well, as Christmas 2014 snuck up on us, it looked like we were going to get what we thought we wanted. By mid-November we realized we were, indeed, heading toward a Christmas for two. The girls are in Shiloh and can’t make an extended weekend trip to Prince Edward County. Both are on duty. The Vancouver kids don’t make it home every year. The Brampton kids have a brand new house and want to celebrate in their own home. The Mississauga kids have a shared custody thingy to deal with and this is the year they need to stay at home. The Burlington kids, well, let’s just say it’s much easier for us to visit them.  By the first week of December we said we were okay with the way things were going, but seriously, we weren’t really sure if we were liking the idea of Christmas without the kids and their kids. And then? Well, and then the Mississauga kids called to ask us to join them for Christmas. The Brampton kids want us to be with them on Boxing Day, and the Burlington kids picked the-day-after-the-day-after to share with us. We’ve already been to Shiloh and Vancouver this year. Mississauga it is, with Brampton and Burlington as chasers.

Since the decision to travel at Christmas, LOML and I have had a couple of fitful nights. We haven’t taken our Christmas Show on the road for almost 30 years. We know how to be here, in the County, during the Christmas holiday. We can efficiently pack for an extended trip across the country or into the USA, but this packing for a Christmas trip? Egads. What if we forget something important? What if we get to Mississauga and to Brampton and to Burlington and we’ve left a gift behind? We might be too old for this. Yet, we wrote the book on Christmas travelling years ago. The day after the last day of school, we stuffed our children and the cat into our car and headed to the city. The Rolls-can-hardly was loaded down with luggage, travel toys and books, snacks, presents for our kids and ourselves and our city family. LOML and I sweated in our boots and jackets because there just wasn’t space for them anywhere else. Yup, we survived those trips.

We’re not going to be responsible for dozens of meals, dirty towels and bathroom lineups. We’ll just sit back, sip the rum and eggnog, and see if our kids have figured it out.

See you in 2015. I’ll let you know what we forgot to bring along on our Christmas in the city.

theresa@wellingtontimes.ca