Christmas Eve: Tuesday Snapshots

The old, traditional holidays always begin at sunset. So it is Christmas here in Virginia.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

May your greatest gift this Christmas be a gift of love and connection to those who share your life in this moment. Whether you are near or far from home, close to family or estranged, young or old; may your heart be warmed in the light of love from those who share your path in this moment. May you find friendship and understanding, support and caring from those with whom you share this Christmas.

We all have loved ones far from home. Some are away by choice and others by necessity. We learn that time and distance can not separate those who hold one another in their hearts.

May you find quiet moments, this Christmas, to remember happy moments from Christmases past. Whether the same cast of characters will gather with you this Christmas, or whether your family includes loved ones who have passed on or gone away for whatever reason; recall those whose lives have touched yours with love.

Christmas is a bittersweet time for many, perhaps more so with each passing year. We can best honor those who have loved us by remembering them with love. Our family stretches beyond the boundaries of time and space to include those who have gone before and also those who will come after. Each year we welcome newcomers into our lives, and look forward to the time we will share along the way.

Perhaps the greatest gift we can offer is an open heart and warm hand to the new ones among us. Especially to those who find themselves far from home, who need to be included, and made one with a new family; a family of caring, if not of shared blood. We are all a bit like children at Christmas, and all in need of a little love.

So I hope your halls are decked in holiday cheer, your table is set, your baking done, and your loved ones are gathering. The door has opened and we have entered Christmas once again. Let us keep it well, with loving heart and twinkling eye.

The spirit of Christmas lives in each of us.

Nandina, prized for its beautiful winter berries and rouge touched foliage, is consideered a “thug plant” by many because it tends to crop up unplanted far from the mother plant.