Monday, December 26, 2011

It was a good Christmas,

and there was much to wish were different, but there was also much to be grateful for. I walked slowly with Sophie right behind an old woman and saw the similarities in their steps, their fragility and labour, but Sophie's curls lay softly on her shoulders where they had been so beautifully arranged by Mirtha an hour before. The Husband spent all of Christmas Eve with The Mistress, but my children were with me, oblivious to anything but excitement and anticipation. Sophie had a huge seizure as we walked out of the doorway of my friend's house, and she lay on the floor jerking with me kneeling beside her, but two knights in shining armor picked her up and carried her, gently, to the car. It's a Wonderful Life seemed a little too long for the boys and a little darker than  it ever had before to me, but it was interrupted by a group of carolers, neighbors whose voices rose in the air clear and harmonized. The morning came much too early, but there was much joy as presents were unwrapped and coffee was sipped, chocolates from stocking consumed before breakfast. It's the day after, now, the house is a mess, the candles melted down to clumps of wax, and leftovers crowd the refrigerator, but the sky outside is clear blue, twisted branches with clinging yellow leaves and what seems like a hundred tiny birds in the pots outside my bedroom, sitting among the lemons.









15 comments:

  1. Merry, Merry Christmas, Elizabeth. Your family is always so luminous in these photographs.

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  2. just beautiful elizabeth! i am always so moved to see sophie, so delicate, a wisp of grace, amid the rambunctious boyness of her brothers. their love for her is so plain, their attentiveness and care. you are doing such a fine work with your children.

    and i love the push and pull of this writing, the give and take, the gifts and the trials, and you, courageous every second. and how on earth did you find time to make your home so cozy and candlelit. i am in awe of you woman. and i love you something fierce. big warm hugs.

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  3. Your home looks so full of life and activity and gentle love. And I know it is so. Blessings on your lovely messy home - may it always be happily disheveled with happy people. I can say that because if you came to my house you would grin. Piles upon piles. And happy kids.

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  4. Merry Christmas Elizabeth!

    Love that picture of Oliver and your poodle. Maybe it is just me (a little too much port with the Stilton), but I swear that poodle looks like it is about to say something very interesting.

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  5. I am happy for you. It was indeed a good Christmas everywhere it seems. I am too very sorry about Sophie's seizure but I am glad some angels came to carry her and gave you a break. Happy Old Christmas Day to you and everyone there.

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  6. Merry Christmas... so beautifully written and felt by this reader.I drove twenty miles to buy one of Laura's cakes for my Christmas Eve party and realized the connection was initially Heather's blog, to your blog, to Laura's here in Connecticut... a bit surreal as we spoke about how I "found out about her cake making abilities in CT via the blogs of mothers in LA" Unveiling her cake was one of the highlights of our family celebration - so thank you!

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  7. I love the rich, vivid imagery and the REALNESS in your Christmas descriptions. So lovely!

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  8. I love these pictures, E. Thank you for sharing. So much joy.

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  9. catching up finally.....looks like you ad a lovely Christmas.....pictures are beautiful.

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  10. you realign my heart in your brilliance and candor.

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  11. Merry Christmas my friend. The pic of your two oldest is precious beyond words.

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  12. Merry Christmas Elizabeth! I love seeing your family through your lens. xo

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  13. So pleased your day was a good one.

    Love.

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