A Time to Laugh

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; Ecclesiastes 3:4

At midnight last night, I was fast asleep in bed, with Alphonse curled at my side. We had gone to Christmas Eve dinner at my parents but we went home earlier than the rest of my siblings to keep Alphonse’s bedtime rituals and schedule. And so, when the clock struck twelve, Alphonse and I were already somewhere in dreamland.

A light tap on the shoulder woke me up. I heard a small whisper in my ear. “Merry Christmas, honey. Wake up.” As my eyes tried to adjust to the darkened room, A♥’s smiling face came to view. Then he handed me a box wrapped in- what else?- newspaper and a small gift card.

Dearest P.,

I figured you might want company by the Riverside. Merry Christmas!

I love you always,

A.

“Riverside? Company? What was he talking about?” I thought to myself.

I was carefully removing layers of tape and paper when it dawned on me that…hmmm… I did own a new house called Riverside Lodge. Did he mean to give me a new neighboring house? Was that what he meant by “company?” It could be, my mind reasoned out. The box was big, after all, almost as big as, if not bigger than, Willow Hall’s box. As my mind tried to unravel the mystery before me, the careful unwrapping gave way to an orgy of flying paper and tape. I beamed him a smile as I beheld Larchwood Lodge, coming all the way from BeHappy Malaysia. (Thank you, Popo and Kiki!)

I thanked A♥ profusely, hugging my box and kissing it with joy. Alphonse started fidgeting in his sleep so I had to reduce my giggling and gurgling noises. I stared at it for a loooong time, turned it every which way, and then, feeling the onset of yawns, set it down reluctantly. I thanked A♥ again and prepared to get back to bed when A♥ pulled a bigger box from somewhere in the darknesss. “Where did that come from?” I mouthed the words silently. He just smiled even more.

When he handed me another card, the one that said

Dearest P.,

Dreams do come true. I should know, because I have you. Merry Christmas!

I love you forever,

A.

I thought I knew. My heart was heaving inside my chest, thumping like I was running a marathon. Oh, you should have seen me dancing crazily, hopping and shaking with glee. It had to be. It could only be that.

The Sylvanian Families John Lewis Department Store. Oh. My.

Even as I fervently hoped that the gift was, indeed, my number one wish list item, a question nagged me: how could A♥ get it when John Lewis does not ship internationally? Maybe I was wrong, after all.

I grabbed a pair of shears to diminish the sound of paper violently ripping. Alphonse was fidgeting a lot more and I was afraid he would wake up any moment. But halfway through unwrapping the box, as the giant letters spelling JOHN LEWIS were revealed printed on the side of the shipper’s box, a small address sticker caught my eye. I knew right away whose that was, having received packages sent from that address before.

Panda! I gasped.

“You’re not playing nice,” I said to A♥. “You’ve been keeping secrets from me,” I said coyly, pretending to be hurt. When he launched into the full story of how he wrote Panda to ask for her help, I had to launch myself into his arms. A gift from my two bestest friends in the world- what could be cooler and nicer and more generous than that?

So thank you, my bestest, farthest away friend, Panda, for making this Christmas wonderfully memorable. Your willingness to help a friend from across the oceans is truly a gift! And thank you to my bestest, nearest, most faithful friend of 28 years, my A♥, for making all my dreams come true. I will always deeply, madly, truly love you.

Christmas In Our Hearts

Every year, for as long as I remember, I pretend to grumble and grouch over the tasks of the holidays. And every year, at the end of the season. I grouse and bellyache some more, those times reserved solely for missing the season and wishing it were upon us again.

Not this year.

There will be none of the tinsel-throwing I have gotten used to from the kids. None of the careful unwrapping of heirloom ornaments from their crumbly tissue paper. None of Alphonse’s sleight of hand tricks with his favorite ball ornaments. Even the Christmas lighting ceremony we are used to, with A♥ waving his hands in the air like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice conjuring magic, is now but a memory of Christmases past.

This year, because Alphonse still does not seem to adapt well to change, we have decided not to put up the ten-foot tree and all its trimmings. We have not put up our blinking lights or the garlands that graced the stairs. Gone, too, are the wreaths and Christmas socks that bear the boys’ names. They are all in their boxes still, the first time in more than twenty years that they will not see light this time of the year.

I feel the loss as much and as deeply as I feel the loss of life as we knew it. In the last month of the year, almost twelve months since Alphonse got sick, we have only begun to resume the normal cycles of our home life. We live in a state of fragile peace and if sacrificing superficial trappings is all it took to save that peace, we are content to live with a bare, unadorned home.

Still, I sense a sadness in the people who live with me, a kind of grief and regret that often seem too trivial to talk about but are felt, nonetheless. In their unspoken sorrow, I realized that while Christmas will always be in our hearts, sometimes, you have to risk a little to remember that this is all about Him who risked and gave up His life for us.

So yesterday, when I woke up, I brought out a small box of decorations. The nannies were confused. I could hear them whispering among themselves. After a few minutes, when they saw what I did, even they broke out in large smiles.

“We’ll put the tree away when Alphonse is around, Ate,” one said.

“And I’m sure he won’t mind too much the ones on the mantle. They’re out of the way and out of his reach naman,” another said.

“If Alphonse throws them, they won’t break!” chimed another.

“The size of your gifts will be proportional to the size of our tree then,” I kidded and they all laughed.

And with that one single moment, amid the smiles and cheers, Christmas was back in our lives.

An Autism Christmas

It’s a work day today so everything is supposed to go back to its normal, everyday routine. It’s hard to shake off the inertia of the holidays. I feel lazy and lethargic, as if my body recognizes the cool December breezes as its signal for relaxation. I wonder how anything ever gets done in this world when all one wants to do is curl in bed with a good book and a cup of steaming hot coffee (or tea or cocoa, your preference).

I’m enjoying this break a little too much, I think. Christmas came a little late for me this year, what with Alphonse’s illness zapping some of the joy of the season. But the Community Mass at the Ateneo de Manila High School gave me a sense of what I was looking for. The Mass reminded me what the frenzy was all about and reawakened a joy I had felt missing in the last few weeks. Surrounded by the angelic voices of my son’s high school class and embraced by the kinship and friendship of my co-parents, I found much to be thankful for.   

The Ateneo High School Christmas Community Mass

with the class 4B as choir

We celebrated Christmas- autism-style, again- this year, and by this, I mean, we were prepared for everything. All my plans for a quiet dinner went out the window when Alphonse invaded the kitchen halfway through the final preparations. He insisted on sampling each of the dishes, coming back for seconds and thirds and even, fourths. Food I had left to garnish had to be hurriedly served, shared, and eaten; the alternative would have been to throw them away as it drives him crazy to find still uneaten food. Either consume it all or throw it away, that’s his motto. Glassware and delicate china had to be kept and replaced with sturdy plastic and melamine. We’ve learned through experience that there is no such thing as shatterproof when it comes to Alphonse. And finally, the rest of the food had to be hidden away in the oven warmer for later that night when he fell asleep.

Baked ham (missing its garnish as Alphonse had eaten most of it), Garlic Tiger Prawns, Lengua Estofado, Crab with Szechuan sauce, Lasagna, Japanese Rice- all served in small, manageable portions  (Not in picture: the meatrolls, chicken, caramel cake and DQ’s peppermint ice cream cake!)

All in all, our Christmas Eve was a collage of moments of chaos and panic (like when Alphonse tried to run away with the whole ham) but nothing we could not laugh about afterwards. The key to living with autism is finding the “funny” in everything. We treasure the moments when things go right and dismiss them as momentary stumbling blocks when they don’t. Tomorrow is always another day to make things right. We savor each moment, each smile, and each hug as if it were last. I’ve lived through the worst life has to offer- five years of daily, miserable violence and constant aggression- and nothing can ever break me again, as long as we are all together.

The kids had a lot of fun opening their presents. Even Alphonse was excited to get his pressies. He especially enjoyed ripping giftwrap paper. Big Brother let Alphonse open some of his presents and they had a blast tossing ripped pieces around. (Not a lot of fun for their mom, though.) Alex got more new clothes, a complete set of mangas, a capo for his guitar, and the computer game he was asking for. Alphonse got clothes, an Aquadoodle mat, a tabletop candy dispenser, and -guess what?- an iPad!  How the iPad found its way to our home is another story which I will share another day when I no longer feel the need to bawl my eyes out at the memory. Let it suffice for now to say that it involved more embarrassing crying in the middle of a crowded mall, haha.

Alex: What’s in the box, Ma?

Me: Fabric conditioner, Son. For your laundry, heehee.

Alphonse gets help with his presents from his Papa.

He got an iPad! (Alphonse smiles, poses for the camera, then tosses the iPad away. Thank God for the Otter Defender case!)

On Christmas Day, we celebrated with my family. Alphonse was particularly difficult that day, refusing to wear clothing and taking them off as soon as we put them on him. He wasn’t unhappy, that’s for sure; on the contrary, he was extremely happy that all he wanted to do was dance buck naked in the cold! We wanted to take photos too, but just getting him to sit down was a challenge; he kept running away. As you can see from the outtakes, family portraits require more than just sitting and looking pretty with our family. What we always need is brawn, and lots of it!

First attempt: Alphonse tries to run away, that silly boy!

Second attempt: Not only is Alphonse thinking of new ways of escape, the camera caught me with my eyes closed! Boo!

 Third attempt: Success!

And off he goes! Freedom! (Alphonse flaps his arms in happiness!)

I guess we’ll never ever be the kind of  family that spends peaceful days in holiday bliss, the kind, I imagine, that sits  for enjoyable, peaceful dinners with polite and  pleasant conversations. There’s always too much going on in our lives, autism and its many gifts always present and forefront. We’re the kind of family that runs after the one who has bolted away, that catches spilled food over and over again and mops it up, most of the time, with a smile, that stays up till 3:40 in the morning patiently waiting for one son to finally fall asleep. But, we find our smiles when others don’t, and knowing this, I am at peace. In fact, I am kind of glad. Autism may make many things more challenging and more difficult but the happiness that comes with it is a kind of  pure joy many people spend their lives looking for. 

I have much to be thankful to the One who gave up His Son for us. But let me just mention the most important gift He has ever given me- the one who stands beside me in the picture below.

Because with this man by my side, Christmas, even autism-style, is always perfect.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Have a wonderful celebration, friends, and God bless you all!

First of the Season

With Christmas just eight days away, I feel the mounting pressure of finishing our family’s shopping list. This is the latest we have ever been in all of A and my years of shared holiday shopping and right now, I am feeling a little overwhelmed. There are last minute sales all over the city and all one needs is a little patience and lot of time to go through them. I have never been short on patience but it seems I am running out of time.

While I hyperventilate and deal with anxiety issues, who else would come to my rescue but my dear, sweet A? 

The other day, coming from a work meeting, he brought home two packages for me. First, he handed me my most recent package from BeHappy Malaysia. I was already feeling giddy; I had been waiting for that for a couple of weeks. And then he hands me an unexpected surprise and it was huge! It would be my first Christmas gift of the season and it was an absolute thrill to receive it from him. Then too, he was so excited to see me open the gift that I only had a few seconds to take pictures before we both started ripping the glossy wrapper.

I closed my eyes and held my breath… and voila!

I absolutely love it!

This is the new Sylvanian Families Beechwood Hall or what Epoch Euro still calls the City House with Lights. Updated with new, fresher colors, a landing for the second floor and a reversible play area in the ground floor, this new home is a major improvement over the old Willow Hall and addresses many of the problems the old home was well known for. The room sizes remain small as the overall size of the house remains the same, but the addition of the landing and reversible play area adds up to a better play experience. Moreover, the bonus sets that come with this package make it more pocket friendly. Some of the items included are not even sold in the country as individual sets. A similar gift set was sold in the United States a while back under the Calico Critters brand and carries most of the bonus items, but not all.

I’m setting this house up for the Christmas diorama I would like to build in the living room. I have enough different playsets to personalize this house, but I fear I will not have enough time to paper the rooms or make additional carpets. Still, I can imagine how the house will look when I add the Christmas tree and Santa Bear. Also, I have a miniature creche to add the real spirit of the season to this holiday home.

If you want to see upclose the bonus sets that came with this purchase, here is a closer look at the sticker prominently displayed in front of the box.   

And just in case you’re still curious what precious finds I got from BeHappy at a great discount, here they are too:

Which reminds me of this: A forum friend posted a curious question on the Sylvanian Families forum, “How do people react to your Sylvanian collection?” and this is what I posted:

I’ve never really been embarrassed about my SF collections. Perhaps it’s because people already know me as a crazy Hello Kitty lady and have grown to accept me as such; one more “craziness” won’t change their perception of me.

I am lucky that like some of you here, my husband supports my collection and buys them for me without hesitation (but always within reason). As a collector of 80′s Japanese robots and Transformers toys, he possesses the mindset of a fellow toy collector. On occasion, he lets me play with his toys and I let him play with mine. It’s a playful marriage all in all, haha.

There are those who do not understand, and they probably never will. There are some relatives who question the sanity of this midlifer. There are also those relatives who think money should be put on other things, like an Hermes bag or Tiffany jewelry. These, they say, have real worth and can be put back in the market without depreciation. But when I think about the reasons why I collect SFs, ultimately, my collection is only as valuable as the happiness I derive from it.

I have a running tally of how much my husband and I have spent since September 2009 for SFs alone and it’s a daunting figure. I acquired so many in so little time and I am extremely grateful that we are blessed with circumstances that allow for these. And knowing how much of my husband’s hard work and sacrifice bought me all these, the only opinion I value these days is his.

Thank you, honey, for making all my Christmas wishes come true. Your love is my most precious gift and I could never ask for more.

Season of Love

Today, when I woke up, the last lines of the “Apostles’ Creed” were still on my mind. I often pray the rosary to sleep, and of all the prayers, the “Apostles’ Creed” is the one that comforts me most. For me, it is a prayer of affirmation of all the things I believe in. By virtue of saying ”I believe,” I profess my faith actively. And although “The Lord’s Prayer” is powerfully majestic and the  ”Hail Mary” serene and graceful, I love the “Apostles’ Creed” because it represents a choice I willingly make each day. 

As we prepare for the last few days of Advent, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the commercialism and materialism of the season. What is Christmas without gift giving? What is the holidays without festivity? What is celebration without party cheer? Too often, we get caught up in the indulgences of the season and forget the real reasons we celebrate. I was reminded of this by this beautiful message that has certainly gone around the world many, many times. It is a timely reminder of why we rejoice in this Season of Christ’s birth. Truly, this is a season for gratitude and love.

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, ‘ This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.

The angel then said to me, “This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them.” I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. “This is the Acknowledgment Section, my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed.” How is it that there is no work going on here? ‘ I asked.

“So sad,” the angel sighed. “After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments”

“How does one acknowledge God’s blessings?”I asked.

“Simple,” the angel answered. “Just say, Thank You, Lord.”

“What blessings should they acknowledge?” I asked.

 “If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world ‘ s wealthy. “

“And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity.”

“If you woke up this morning with more health than illness .. You are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day. “

“If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation .. You are ahead of 700 million people in the world..”

“If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world.”

“If your parents are still alive and still married …you are very rare.”

“If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you’re unique to all those in doubt and despair…….”

Ok, what now? How can I start? If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all. Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you care to, pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are

ATTN: Acknowledge Dept.

“Thank you Lord, for giving me the ability to share this message and for giving me so many wonderful people with whom to share it. “

If you have read this far, and are thankful for all that you have been blessed with, please share this message.

I thank God for everything, especially all my family and friends. 

All I Wanted For Christmas

When I was a little kid, I always got the least number of gifts. On Christmas morning, after all the gifts have been distributed, my siblings and I would retreat to our individual corners of the living room and open our gifts. Because I was always bigger for my age, except for my parents, no one ever gave me gifts of toys. Mostly, they were “useful” stuff like socks, underwear, or clothes. Sometimes, they’d be school things, like a book bag, or art sets, or stationery supplies (Sanrio naman). It didn’t help that I only had one baptismal godmother, and she lived abroad, too far to send any gifts then. While my siblings opened presents from their godparents, I had none of my own, and would wistfully compare my meager loot with theirs.

There wasn’t room for envy, though. After all the rituals of gift-opening, my siblings and I would hunker down and play. My younger brother Jeffy, with his eighties’ robots, would ally himself with troops of my older brother’s GI Joes. My sisters’ Barbie dolls would set up house, only to be demolished by an invading robot-Joe army. We all had a rousing time. Moreover, they all shared their presents of toys with me, and sometimes, would even be naïve enough to swap them for some candy canes (I got Voltes V’s arm for this), or staple wires (I think I got a doll for this), heehee.

I thought about all these when two large boxes arrived for me  on the second week of December. They came much too early in the month for the actual celebration, but each time I opened a box, it was like Christmas morning. And this year, unlike all the previous years of my childhood, I got all the toys. :-)

Now, here’s where the fun begins- Guess what I got for Christmas!

(Warning: this post is picture-heavy.)

Christmas Is Coming!

It’s confirmed! I now have it from a very reliable source- Christmas is definitely coming. It’ll probably take a few weeks, but she’ll be here.

And you thought we just had Christmas? Sorry… Am I confusing you?

Let me give you clues. Limited edition. Great gift. Got an idea yet?

Okay, here’s another one: She’s cuddly, soft, and weighs as much as three apples.

 Kitty Bee, what are you doing??? Why are you dressed like that???

Sorry for Bee’s interruption, folks. She’s been like that ever since she got the news about Christmas. Me thinks there’s a little sibling rivalry going on here. heehee.

Anyway, let me explain. Christmas is the name of my brand new Hello Kitty 35th Anniversary Build A Bear. A got her for me on the last day of the holidays (he was able to avail of free shipping to anywhere in the US), and because she was intended as a late Christmas gift, I have named her Christmas, or Chrissy for short. I already have a HK BAB named Cory, so Chrissy (yes, Chrissy with a CH and not a K–that would have been too obvious) was a logical choice for a name; I hope to get a Noy soon. (See where my loyalty lies?)  Here’s what she looks like.

Instead of the frilly 35th Anniversary dress or even the star pajamas, Chrissy will arrive dressed up in Jedi knight fashion. While Chrissy is all girl and as such, loves frou-frou clothing, I decided on this to give Chrissy an extra boost in the Force as she helps battle evil and corruption in this year’s elections. Don’t feel too sorry for her, though; she’ll get the rest of these clothes as well, fashionista Kitty that she is.

Jedi Knight rules!

What I really want for her, though, is a yellow campaign shirt. Would anyone know where I can find one, infants’ size small? I think she’ll look absolutely patriotic in it.

“Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in.”

Michael Corleone’s famous line from Godfather III haunted me this weekend while A and I made our way to the cash register with a 35^th Anniversary Hello Kitty nohohon in hand. I have not made any significant Hello Kitty purchases in the past three months, save for some miniatures from Re-Ment and Sanrio which were meant for my Sylvanian Families dollhouses. At each time I was tempted to buy anything — be it a Hello Kitty bag (my personal weakness) or holiday decorations (like the fabulous red and white HK Christmas tree skirt) — I was weighed down by having to choose between Hello Kitty and Sylvanian Families. I ended up favoring the latter most of the time, thus, leading me to believe that I was finally over my Kittymania and that I have become a sober,  recovering HK addict.

That is, until the presents started pouring in. First, there was the pink HK umbrella and small plush from my sister-in-law. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of them.) Then came a queen-sized ultra-soft pink fleece blanket from my sister Joee.

My loving husband surprised me with a very pretty Hello Kitty charm bracelet (with extra charms) purchased in Hong Kong by a friend 

and topped it off with New Year’s Kitty fortune tree and a Minna No Tabo Lion Dance dragon doll.

And lastly, the gifts that finally pushed me off the wagon of restraint — a battery-operated HK toothbrush (surely this thing tests the limits of dental care cuteness),   

an elegant black HK plush from MAC with a MAC Couture lipglass,

and — holds breath —  a Hello Kitty Barbie doll. *screams in delight* 

 

Thank you, dearest Ondine and Jun, for the lovely gifts. I feel really spoiled.

It isn’t easy fighting off the demons of your addiction, not when the ones you love are your greatest enablers. And while this consuming passion for all things Hello Kitty is hard to shake off and really seems destined to be a lifelong pain in the pocket (to my husband), at least I have reached a point where choices are possible. I no longer feel the need to buy everything in sight just because a mouthless feline flashes her ribbon at me. And because I think before I buy, my purchases are truly more meaningful in my life.

Now, presents… Hmmm…those are another matter altogether, heehee.

P.S. Since we’re doing really well with pictures, here’s another one, the nohohon A got for me this weekend:

Christmas In The Family

A with nephew JR

Finally, with the holidays fast coming to an end, the presents have almost all been given away. Alphonse’s stealth missions (aka Operation “Open-and Destroy”) have been thwarted quite successfully, save for two separate occassions when he managed to unwrap, destroy, or eat the presents before we can get to him. Gifts we have not yet sent out are locked safely in the spare bedroom, all scheduled for this weekend’s delivery run.

The truth is, despite my complaints, I loved Christmas this year, as I do every year.  Alphonse, for all his unrelenting mischief with presents, actually did quite well this holiday season.  Even without a teacher (who went on leave for the holidays and left us without a substitute) and even with unexpected major blips in his schedule (family gatherings, reunions, and impromptu visits), Alphonse held himself together rather well. Of course, sometimes, one could hear Alphonse’s bloodcurdling screams echo in the house, and whenever he could find an audience, he would whine, whimper and protest in his crackling man-voice. Still, there was nothing more serious than horror-movie sound effects, and for that, we are extremely thankful. 

Joyce, Roel and JR

On the 19th, we shared an early Christmas dinner with A’s sister, Joyce, and her family. We don’t often see each other so this opportunity to come together was extra special for us. Joyce, Roel, and JR spend the yearly holidays with Roel’s family in the province so this would be our only celebration with A’s side of the family for the entire season.  JR kept us laughing throughout the night, as he regaled us with songs and stories. We sang karaoke with him, rapped and danced, and simply goofed around. It’s always nice to have a little one in the house (though he’d be the first to say that at seven going eight, he is not so little anymore).

The Christmas Spread

On the 24th, it was Christmas Eve with my parents and siblings at my parents’ home. We managed to complete the cast of five kids and their spouses and children (just four on our side, and three almost fully grown at ages 16, 15, and 14), as well as the special guests for the night, our cousins whom we haven’t seen in a while. Anj and Ernest brought their three little ones – Enzo, Pao, and Gab; Yna and Windell came with Naomi and Noah. Then there was my little nephew Sese, my sister’s son, who at age two, amazed us with a ballroom dance routine (you should see him tango!). These little kids made the difference in an otherwise adult celebration. It really isn’t Christmas without little kids in the house and watching them scamper and play, they brought so much joy to the celebration.

Here are some pictures from the celebration:

Yellow and black are the colors of our Christmas.

A and Kittymama, tired but happy

More yellow and black

Holiday cost-cutting: Christmas and campaign shirts in one

Daddy with the early attendees

  From left: Yna, Windell, Noah, Daddy, Ate E, Arielle, Naomi and Kuya J

My favorite photo of the season

It’ll be New Year soon, and on the start of the year, we pray for love to grow in our family. We pray for God’s grace for our parents  and continuous peace and love in the lives of our brothers and sisters. Some are not here, and some have made a choice to distance themselves from us, but wherever they may be at this moment, we think of all of them with fondness and with love.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!