This old gal…

Is not gonna lie…a little part of her heart gets heavy thinking about not being home on Christmas…

Gets easier every year…know what to expect…how to plan…how to fill in the gaps…and most of those gaps get filled…the lights…the trees…the gifts waiting to be unwrapped…but there’s always one thing missing…

Those daughters of mine…and everything that builds up to seeing those daughters of mine…the excitement…the giddiness…the thrill of thinking about being together again…

And so mama me fills that hole with things that remind her of them…their ornaments on the tree…cheese dip for dinner…the puzzle advent calendar…

Chose a beautiful one this year…the nativity scene…bring the Story alive with a tiny segment each day til the picture is complete…

Except this year…this puzzle…this brand new puzzle…something was missing…

Two pieces on day 5…thought maybe they’d pop up in a different day…sorting gone wrong…and funny thing two extras DID show up…but they were random oddballs…didn’t fit anywhere…

And so it is…there are times in life when something is missing…that hole tugging at your heart a bit…but that doesn’t mean what you have isn’t special…that doesn’t mean what you have isn’t beautiful…

And that doesn’t mean that what you’re missing today…you won’t find waiting for you tomorrow…
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And this husband of mine…agrees…

This old gal…

Bragged a little too soon…so proud of herself leaping in like a super hero saving that man from his Progressive commercial fate…

But wouldn’t you know…not long after…there she was again at the Post Office…the line as long as long could be…

Had several boxes to mail…Christmas boxes…boxes full of Buc-ee goodies…too many boxes to carry by hand so put them in bags…those reusable bags for groceries…didn’t have enough of those so put one box in a plastic sack…

Stopped at HEB on the way to the Post Office…pick up essentials…milk…cat food…chicken pot pie…got a little snacky in the checkout aisle decided to toss in some bags of chips…two for a buck…toss toss toss toss toss…

Stood in that Post Office line 30 minutes…just standing…not chatting…not scrolling…shuffling those feet forward an inch every so often…

Finally made it to the counter and looked down…when what to my wondering eyes should I see?..two bags of boxes and one bag…full of snacky chips…

One of us…and she shall remain nameless…grabbed the HEB bag with the chips instead of the other bag with the package and stood there 30 minutes…THIRTY MINUTES…and never noticed it…

And so it is…in life…we all have our moments…senior moments…Progressive moments…the omg-I-can’t-believe-I-did-that moments…

Embrace them…laugh about them…then move on because more than likely another one will be waiting for you…right around the corner…
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And that husband of mine…agrees…

This old gal…

Had another Progressive moment…not HER moment exactly…but awkward enough to be sufficiently painful…

Standing in the line at the Post Office…a long line…a mailing holiday packages line…been there 20 minutes…couldn’t help but overhear a conversation directly behind waiting me…

An older gentlemen…cute…perky…so merry and bright…addressed the man between us…tall…fortyish…all business grinchy-like…pointing out a large mural of the city…the back-in-the-day city…

Omg…he says…I remember when the city looked like that…there was this place by Devil’s Backbone blah blah blah…we used to go there and blah blah blah…

The young man hmmm-ing…avoiding eye contact…angled away…but this man so full of goodwill kept engaging in that awkward Progressive commercial-like way…

And the struggle was real for eavesdropper me…so very very real…and internally it went something like this…

Stay out of it…Rescue the man…Ignore it…Rescue the man…Don’t do it…Rescue the man…

And so she did…rescue the man…made no secret that she’d been eavesdropping and turning around joined the conversation…

And just like that…the ice broke…the awkwardness gone…and three of us chatted about the past and change and how big the town has grown…

And so it is…in life…sometimes it’s none of your business…and sometimes you show good will to man and toss out that life line…and when that life line involves chatting…one of us…was more than happy holidays…to do it…
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And this husband of mine…agrees…

This husband and I…

Had a quiet Christmas Day…ate lunch at IHOP…went for a drive…made some Crack Dip and binge watched the continuous airing of A Christmas Story…

Watched it three times…that man of mine engrossed…laughing over and over at the same jokes…his Christmas buddy playing Wordscapes when something caught her attention…

Ralphie’s friend…his name was Flick…don’t know why it wasn’t noticed before…maybe it didn’t register…maybe old gal me hadn’t just fallen down the family tree rabbit hole…but Flick…unique…one of a kind nickname…was familiar…

As in Georgie and Flick…Aunt Georgie and Uncle Flick…sister to Emily M…Flick a veteran…a Purple Heart recipient…lost his lung in the war…was spoken about with respect as, of course, he should’ve been…

Lived in a white farm house set on a small grassy area plopped in the middle of the town…it always intrigued little me…no houses next door but busy roads circling around…a house on an island of sorts…

Thought about that house as a preteen…Aunt Georgie dying an early death…Uncle Flick alone in that house on the island…it made young me sad…

Fast forward years…many many years…that daughter of mine diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis…something in that triggered memories…that house on the island…Flick alone…Aunt Georgie having died of a “muscle deteriorating disease”…

Was this MS?…something else?…was there a connection?…genetics of some sort?…mama me wanted information…wanted answers…because like all mamas do…

She wanted to fix it…make it better…take the scaries away for that baby of hers…

But sometimes in life…no matter how hard you try…how much you learn…how many articles you read…you can’t fix it..

But for every fearful mother and every suffering child you can pray…have faith…and trust that someone some day will find those answers…those elusive answers…and fix it for you…
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And this daughter of mine…agrees…

This old gal…

Woke up singing a song…a catchy song…an oldie but a goodie song sung by Peaches and Herb because three ladies that she loves so much are soon to be…

Reunited…and it feels so good…

Influenza hit…that Nebraska daughter of mine down for the count…couldn’t fly out when planned…had to stay home…reschedule…celebrate Christmas alone…

But she’s on her way…flight leaves before dawn…and in a few hours the three most important people in the world to mama me…will finally be together again…

And let the festivities begin…

Our time…family time…belated celebrate Christmas time…food…fun…a zoom party with their mama time…

So safe travels today, my darling girl…mama me in Texas, those sisters in DC…we’re all so excited ‘cause you’ll soon be reunited…

And this mother’s heart…is bursting with joy…
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And those daughters of mine…agree…

That daughter of mine said…

That picture of your grandpa is the spitting image of Uncle Jon…

And yes, yes, yes it is…the cabbage head gene apparently strong…for that mother of hers has it too and if we’re being honest…this daughter in question…well…like mother like daughter…

Got intrigued…the two of us comparing more photos…past to the present…so sure one uncle looks like their grandpa but at a certain age and a certain angle the other uncle looks just like him, too…

And let’s not forget Great Grandma Moel…serious…intense…have seen that face not long ago in some Yahtzee playing concentration…that youngest of mine unknowingly recreating that stoic look of long ago…

And that’s the thing about family…it’s all about connection…likes…dislikes…looks…genetics…but the tie that binds doesn’t have to be biological…the tie that binds doesn’t have to have a signed document…

The tie that binds can be anyone or anything that makes you feel safe…
The tie that binds can be anyone or anything that makes you feel loved…
The tie that binds can be anyone or anything that makes you feel special…

And so it is…in life…regardless of what your holiday is like this season…if your family is home or far away…if your heart is full or a little sad…just know this…

You are loved…
You are special…
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And this husband of mine…agrees…
Photo by Gayle on Find a Grave. Used with permission.

One vintage photo…

Stood out in that box of black and whites…could have been a postcard…could have been an ad from a magazine…could have been a symbol for the true meaning of Christmas…

Simplicity…a mother and her child…the imperfect tree…the family pet…the modicum collection of gifts near the boy…

Peace…the flowing wallpaper…the cascading tinsel…the soft light emanating from the floor lamp…

Love…her smile while she watches her son…his hand as he caresses his dog…the one with the camera immortalizing his family in one quick snap…

Nothing fancy…nothing over the top…

Nothing raucous…nothing loud…

No drama…no conflict…no unneeded stress…

And so it is on this Christmas Day…may you celebrate with family in simple ways…in ways that bring you peace…in ways that bring you joy…in ways that make you feel loved…

In ways that help bring it all back…to what Christmas…is all about…
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And that husband of mine…agrees…

This old gal…

Loves words…fun words…unique words…rhyming words…

Enjoy the Word Daily…get a kick out of the word of the day…learn something new from the little blurb…

Gruntled…opposite of DISgruntled…
Rumbustious…means the same as rambunctious…
Dysania…can’t get out of bed in the morning…
Fartlek…has nothing to do with what one would think but makes immature me laugh anyway…

And then there was the day…the Word Daily Day…where the word of the day became A PART of the day…when Christmas Sweater Day was the day of synchronicity…

Christmas Sweater Day at school for that DC teacher of mine…sent a picture of her sweater choice…a throwback to days gone by…1985 vintage sweater that mother of hers found at a mall so many years ago…

And wore…according to Facebook Memories…on Christmas Sweater Day…at school…as a teacher…exactly 11 years to the day…

On Word of the Day Synchronicity Day…

Irony?..coincidence?..or maybe a little bit of fairy dust and magic…feeling those vibes from so many miles away…the future reminiscent of the past…the past carried on by the future…

A daughter and her mama syncing on Synchronicity Day…made an old gal smile because she so loves words…almost as much as she loves those beautiful daughters of hers…

Almost…
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And those daughters of mine…agree…

​This old gal…

Looking through that box of photos…black and white…vintage…admiring the clothing…the settings…that old tin Lizzie used as a prop...

Saw something else…that face looking back from those tattered pages…that face serene…demure…smiling…that face…Emily M’s face…could also be someone else’s face…

That daughter of mine…that oldest daughter of mine…the one who seemed to have dodged the big round bohemie cabbage head…unlike that mother of hers and several other members of her family…

It’s there in the eyes…the nose…the tilt of the face…the lips…the chin…the shape of the jaw…and it warms a mother’s heart…this mother’s heart…

The past and the future…blending…melding…the future reminiscent of the past…the past carried on by the future…

It’s beautiful really…so very beautiful the way that life works…almost as beautiful…as those women in the photographs…

Almost…
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And those daughters of mine…agree…

That box of family photos…

Contained a picture…framed…faded…over 100 years old…

A group of students sitting in the grass near a one room schoolhouse…zoom in and you can find him…that grandfather of mine…easily…unmistakably…

The eyes…the nose…the straight across smile…the buttoned up shirt…the hat with the band…but one look at that group of kids and one thing…one thing specifically…stands out…

That big head…that big round punkin head…cute really…but sadly…also a curse for sweet little George…

It was a thing, according to the stories, for each of the kids in his family to have a nickname…those nicknames what everyone called them…those nicknames…became their identity…

John was Jack…Charlotte was Lottie…Frank “Risk”…Irene “R”…Charles “Bill”…William “Sam”…James “Jimmie…Effie “Ef”…Cyril “Cy”…David “Bunk”…and George…sweet little adorable George…was called Cabbage…

Because when he was born…his head was big and round…like a cabbage…

And it stuck, too, that nickname of his…walk through town and there it was, “Good morning, Cabbage!” How are you today, Cabbage?”…might shorten it to Cab…but little me never once heard him called George…

Asked that grandma of mine once why everyone called him Cabbage…her response…short…snappy…”Why do you think?”..let little me know not to mention it again…and she didn’t…

Until now…because how unfair it seems in a family full of nicknames…in a TOWN full of nicknames…nicknames like Flick…Butch…Risk…Bunk…to be the guy with a head like a cabbage…

And so it is…in life…we all have some kind of albatross hanging around the neck…something from the past that hurts a little…haunts a little…

Be like Cabbage…accept it…own it…rise above it…

And those cabbage head relatives of his…agree…
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 Photos by Gayle on Find A Grave. Used with permission.