Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

 This year, the lyrics to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" keep looping in my head...

        Have yourself a merry little Christmas
        Let your heart be light
        From now on
        Your troubles will be out of sight

        Have yourself a merry little Christmas
        Make the Yule-tide gay
        From now on
        Your troubles will be miles away

Our holiday this year felt like extremes...Hopeful then worrisome, Peaceful then crazy, Laughter then tears, Abundance then scarcity...  However, in the end, our Christmas was beautiful, and I will only let hope, peace, laughter, and abundance be our North Star.

After Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law moved in with us.  It was the right thing to do considering the circumstances.  (The inexpensive Airbnb housing we found for her was nothing more than a bed and a shared bathroom with two strange men living upstairs.)  She brought what little belongings she had into our home and has been sleeping on our couch since.  Our house isn't optimal.  For one, she has a hard time navigating our stairs to use the shower, and two, staying in our living room gives her no privacy.  This week she was supposed to begin her first round of chemo (she has breast cancer), but now it appears that in-between her doctor visits or us bringing germs into the house, she has come down with a terrible cold.  (We are hoping it is not COVID, but we haven't been able to secure a home test kit to check.  She is too sick to wait in line, and there are no appointments available at nearby pharmacies well into the New Year.)

While taking care of her, my husband started exhibiting troubling symptoms of his own.  He went to the emergency room twice complaining of high blood pressure and chest pains.  Then he scheduled an appointment with a cardiologist who performed a number of tests, including cardiac catheterization. Last Tuesday, after the catheterization, we learned that he had no blockages (good news) but that his chest and arm pains are likely due to some disc issues in his neck.  Now that Christmas is over, he is hoping to follow up with a spine and disc doctor; however, knowing the cause, unfortunately, didn't make his pain any less during the holiday.

In the midst of the worry, craziness, and fear, Little Lewie continued to be my source of light.  I was committed to making Christmas special for him, and so our traditions persisted.  We got dressed up in our Halloween costumes to take photos at JCPenney's Portrait Studio for our Christmas cards.  We bought a live Christmas tree from our Beacon Falls Fire Station, which was delivered to our home by a fire truck.  We dressed up in our best to attend Lewie's Christmas Concert.  (This year he did a trumpet duet with a friend, and he performed in the middle school concert and jazz band.)  And, we decorated the living room with lots of festive lights, hoping the lights would bring cheer not just to us but also to Daddy and his sister that had been and continue to be so ill, sad, worried, and fearful.

Yes, among the worry, there was also beauty, and these are some of my favorite photos from December.  First, there was the Christmas card photoshoot:

The picture on the front of our Christmas Card that read..."Joy to the World."

Then there was the Christmas Concert (the first one since fifth grade back in 2019):

Then there was Christmas morning:

On Christmas morning, everyone, including my sister-in-law, had presents under the tree.  (Our pup Bruce had a few gifts, too!)  Big "family" presents included tickets to see the comedian Jim Gaffigan and a portable drive-in movie theater (for nights when Lewie and his friends want to camp out in the backyard).  I bought tickets for my mom and me to see Riverdance, and hubby bought me an awesome gift card to get a relaxing massage.

The Children's Christmas Mass was canceled this year due to COVID concerns, and then Lewie received news that he had a COVID exposure earlier in the week, which means that we are all home quarantining even though Lewie is experiencing no symptoms.

Yes, the spirit of Christmas cannot be broken.  We've had (are having) a few challenges at the moment, but Christmas was saved, and hope, faith, and love will persist into the New Year.   I know it.

        Through the years
        We'll always be together
        If the Fates allow
        Hang a shining star upon the highest bough

        So have yourself a merry little Christmas
        Have yourself a merry little Christmas
        So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.