My computer died again. Well, at least the battery charger died. We think the culprit was the result of the surge protector not protecting. Franklin purchased a new battery charger as well as a new surge protector (a tiny little thing that is so much more convienent).
We have survived the holiday season admist mourning for two grandmothers. It’s an odd thing to suddenly realize that one has no grandparents what so ever, particularly when all the grandparents were so much an active part in life. The kids did well, though I know that two of them had crashes of their own during the days leading up to Christmas itself. Olivia I think nearly stopped breathing her sobbing came so hard. Epiphany basically handled hers with shutting down and hanging out in where GG (my mother’s mom) lived her last few months. Max hasn’t mentioned anything, though I’m not certain how to read that in him at this point.
Franklin and I gave my parents a lovely bird bath with a relief of lake-reeds and horse-flies. Both grandmothers loved watching birds. We thought it would make a nice center piece to a memorial garden of some kind.
Mom made sure we still received presents from GG and that Dad received his yearly stash of peanut brittle (a gift from his mother that could be counted on). Olivia made one batch of GG’s cookies that normally appeared on our Christmas table. GG had previously discussed specific wishes to get Maxwell and Epiphany particular items for Christmas – which my mother went out to purchase. There were a number of little things that my grandmother collected that were gifted out to everyone as farewell Christmas gifts. I remember one of mine in particular. My grandmother collected coins, and when I was in elementary school she showed me some Susan B. Anthony’s that she had purchased for my brother and me. They were in envelopes with little windows and we were told not to open them and that she was keeping them for safe keeping. Strange, I don’t recall ever seeing them again – or caring about them, honestly. Yet, unwrapping the gift box yesterday and seeing them, I could remember the entire interaction so vividly and clearly. I lost it over that, and was able to handle the more intimate gifts a little easier. I was allowed to choose between two of her rings and picked the one she designed using the jewels from my grandfather’s old tie-tacks. I also picked an old felt and sequined Christmas broach she wore every year….my mother tells me that it was actually sentimental to my grandmother as it was made/worn by her own mother. One of the best gifts of all that I received were two of her cookbooks – everything in it is original and handwritten. They are both bound in what would have been my grandfather’s business-journal binders. One day, I’ll divide them up into three to give to my children. The ring will go to Olivia, the tree to Epiphany and the coins to Maxwell.
We didn’t truly do much for Christmas otherwise. We did put up a tree in the window, and it is lovely. I wasn’t up to baking and Olivia pretty much dominated the kitchen with her own creations for gift-giving. Shopping was kept to a ominimum. I took each of the kids out looking for ornaments (we selected a double silver heart for each of them to symbolize their great-grandmothers). Individually I took the kids out for an afternoon a piece, so that they could shop for their own lists. Franklin and I went out the day before Christmas Eve and purchased the kids some Converse shoes and some candy for their stockings. We also snuck out on Christmas Eve itself. The kids were with my parents during the day, so we thought we’d just do some driving and grab a little lunch. We went to this dive of a sandwich shop that we went to while we were courting…not much to look at but the sandwiches make my toes curl they are so good. We’ve only been once in the last ten years, and it was a nice treat.
Today, Franklin is at the doctor’s office with my son. The eye is not looking good, and the pressure is so low as to be dangerous. I’m hoping that they bring back better news. I forbade anyone to speak to either of us about the eye during the holidays. Neither of us needed the downer, you know?
