the day after

Today is the 6th day of the 52nd week [which means there are days in December that will be counted in the first week of 2027!], the 26th day of the 12th month [which triggers my annual plaint that Boxing day definitely needs to be a holiday in the US], the 360th day of 2025 [and in case you were wondering, there are 364 shopping days until NEXT Christmas], and:

• National Candy Cane Day
• National Whiners Day
• St Stephen's Day - public holiday in Alsace, Austria, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland
• Thank-you Note day
• Wren Day - an Irish custom when men and boys hunt a wren [AKA the King of Birds], display it dressed up, then bury it ceremoniously to ensure prosperity for the coming new year.  
• the first day of Kwnazaa -  Umoja [Unity] emphasizing togetherness for family and community
• the first day of Junkanoo street parade in the Bahamas
• the second of the Twelve Days of Christmas [no turtle doves were harmed on this day] - public holiday in the Netherlands, Poland, and Slovakia
• and Voyager 1 is currently ~23h 33m 34s of light travel time from Earth, or 25,427,000,000 km / 15,799,000,000 miles / 169.966 AU

Quote of the day:
“I think and think and think, I've thought myself out of happiness one million times, but never once into it.”

~ Jonathan Safran Foer - contemporary American novelist

It's been a tough year

It started off with all of us worrying as  Tommy landed in the hospital with breathing issues - his lungs filling with fluid.  It was a forerunner of a difficult year for all of us.  Gem and I made multiple trips to Nashville, one of them very much an emergency rush.  River and Chris were bastions of strength in caring for Tommy as he continued to fight hard for his life.

Then, in the spring, I learned my son-in-law, who I had always had such an high opinion of, was not "bucking for sainthood" as I had thought, but running around with women half his age and demanding a divorce because my daughter broke her wedding vows by becoming disabled and no longer being a support to him.  

Marriage counseling broke down in October when for her birthday, he admitted that he wasn't interested in trying to save their marriage,  She moved out the weekend before Christmas, fortunately finding an apartment only 1 1/2 miles from their house in the kids' school districts so that shared custody was possible.  They are on a 2 2 3 schedule with alternating holidays now and it started yesterday.

Craig didn't do any Christmas decorating at all - an odd choice since he is arguing he is the one that kept the household going.  Gem simply couldn't decorate as she needed to focus on getting the apartment setup for basic living.  So Grandmom hosted Christmas this year, complete with full decorations [minus a full sized tree].  I think we pulled it off, altho fitting seven people and piles of presents in the living room was a bit of a challenge!  It was great having Cheryl, Ricky, and Mark with us, even though Mark, who had broken his shoulder and ribs was in a tremendous amount of pain.  I even managed to send everyone home well fed.  I will admit, that after all these years of going somewhere else, I had forgotten just how much work hosting is and how long it takes to clean up after everyone goes home!

The guys down in Nashville unfortunately weren't feeling that festive yesterday - this picture was posted in the family Discord, taken exactly at 2:38 AM this morning, six months after Tommy took his last breath.  His room is still pretty much as it was, and the computer with its lights is still there, with his ashes sitting in the cair before it awaiting their final disbursal in the waters of the Atlantic, right off the coast of Ocean City, NJ.

Yesterday I didn't cover my head for the first time since the surgery.  According to the family, the scars are not really noticeable and I should be more comfortable with the comb over.  I'm not really, but will probably continue to rock the bandana look [bossman told me I looked like a pirate on Christmas Eve with the bandana and big earrings].  Tomorrow I'm going back to Ricky at the Looks Salon to have the human hair topper I purchased and he colored styled appropriately for me.  

Today is a day to take a deep breath and unwind. I have to work, but at least I don't have to go into the office, and I can watch the gathering gloom of the incoming storm from inside.  

And, as I ponder on yesterday, which quite frankly I was dreading a bit, I realized that in working so hard to keep things as festive as possible for the littles, we all managed to recapture some of the good feelings of hope and joy the holiday brings for ourselves. 

Life is still not fair, and we are still coping