Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Christmas 2014

I was just thinking about the past Christmas and through the passing years how things change.
I am a "half full' person so I don't mean this in a negative way.
 Times are a changin'.
 I still send out about sixty Christmas cards but the list have changed over the years. New people come into my life and others seem to disappear. I receive less and less cards each year. I guess some people feel snail mail correspondence is out of date or perhaps, too expensive.That part kind of bums me out.
I'm old fashioned like that and I like cards. I'll save the ones that stand out.
My weekends before Christmas used to be packed with going to parties but now it is down to just one party.
Since things change I try to start up 'new' holiday traditions. I host dinner and my cousins come over for holiday cheer.
 I still like going out for "black Friday" shopping -even though I really don't have many people to shop for any more. I just like the hustle and bustle of the event. I also like to look at all the decorations and displays.
This year we went down to the La Salette shrine in Attleboro to see the Christmas lights.
 I must say it was impressive.
 If I was a little kid I would've thought it was "magical".
 It was a good thing I bundled up because it was wicked cold and it is a place you have to walk around. Not only were there a massive display of lights but inside the shrine they had a display of thousands of different types of nativity scenes from all over the world. They even had funny ones that featured cowboys, dogs, owls, cats and ones that little kids created.
It was refreshing to see something relating to Christmas that was what Christmas is really all about -without any apologies.
No silly snowmen, elves or any of that crap.There were lots of exquisite religious art pieces.
The biggest thing that changed this year is my father is now in a nursing home. He is completely bed ridden and dementia has taken a full hold so therefore we spent the day with him at the facility. I know my mother felt sad about not spending Christmas day at her home with my father but I reminded her that at least we were all together. (see above picture)
I stayed with him just for a few hours. He gets tired and agitated when there is a lot of stimulation.
At least the staff at the nursing home really tried to make things cheery and festive. My father seemed to respond positively to the cards and gifts he had received from us and from some of the kind nursing staff.
The Christmas season is also an extremely  busy time for me as far as my pet sitting business is concerned. I had quite a few bird boarders and in addition, I had to go to customer's homes to care for their kitties.
Yup, times have changed.

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