CHRISTMAS 2009

It's over, almost, and it was a great one. A Wii for the girls, a bike for the Tornado, oak and magnolia trees in the yard for me and the CEO, with some other fun games or nice things along the way. Of course the best part was getting to spend a truly nice day with the family. GMA and GPA, aunts, uncles and OMA all spent the day here, playing games eating and sharing. I even got my sister a few nice laughs between watching The Hangover and a little practical joke by rewrapping the Sarah Palin book for her.

The kids all played nicely together, and of course that's always nice to see and be around. We went to mass at 4 yesterday, and two of my former players from the school basketball team were alter servers. The older one, a boy, is in 10th grade now, and has to be 3-4 inches taller that me. It's always nice to see the kids I've coached around town, at church, participating in life.

But yesterday at mass also made me reflect on Christmas from two years ago. Mass last Christmas was tough, but that was the first one since the Katrina Christmas. I knew that one would be difficult to enjoy fully. I thought this one would go a little more smoothly. As I sat in my chair at mass yesterday, holding a sleeping Tornado, I thought about Katrina. I thought about how hard her life has been the past two years. The feeling of letting her down is still in me, and while it comes to the surface less frequently, it hurts quite a bit.

But it also allows me to think of really how blessed I am to have such a wonderful wife and terrific kids. None of us are perfect, but we try to do the best we can, to do things and make decisions that reflect the love we have for each other. I hope Katrina finds that family someday soon.

Then, as I was thinking about Katrina during mass, my mind floated to Morgan. After 15 Christmas' with him, this is our first without. Cooper has taken Morgan's spot in the family picture, but he hasn't yet filled his shoes. Of course, The CEO says to me all the time he doesn't have to fill Morgan's shoes, Cooper has his own shoes, and those are perfectly fine. She's probably right :)

So as the clock ticks down on Christmas #20 with the CEO, #11 with kids, and #1 with Cooper, I thank God for those who are with me today, those who have been with me in Christmas' past, and the lessons I've learned about life along the way.