after complaining
non-stop about
how much i hate
the holidays,
something interesting happened
this year…
i suppose i could
wait until the
end of the post
to tell you that
i actually
enjoyed this one,
but why keep
you in suspense?
so here’s why
this one didn’t suck…
i watched as
my california girl
fell deeply in
love with a climate
few can stand.
i suppose
it had little to
do with this:
to top it all
off, maddy got to
crawl through
her very own snow fort
and as if
watching her enjoy
all of
these winter adventures
wasn’t enough,
i watched
as all of
our individual
families came together
to form
a serious Voltron-like
family to help
maddy take
part in a christmas
tradition that
was a big part of
her mother’s childhood,
as well as her
brookie’s childhood.
i also got to watch
my daughter enjoy
christmas the way
i used to when
i was a kid:
and the way i used
to when her
mom
was alive:
and the way that
we do now.
and then the best
part for me…
to experience
all of this
from her perspective.
to see her not
worried about any
of the things i
worry about at
this time of year.
to see her happy
to be surrounded by
family both
old and new.
to see her
go from scared
to excited when
she opened up
that remote
controlled tarantula.
to see her
lose her mind
over those talking dinosaurs.
to listen to her
inside a huge
box yelling,
“open your gift, daddy!”
and to hear her
laughing as i opened
up the box
to find her inside…
well, it’s pretty
impossible to hate
a holiday that
includes all of that.