End of Year Reflections: Part Two -- Where's The Midwest?
By Christmas Eve Day, my mother took a very unexpected turn for the better. Still with her 25% cardiac ejection fraction, the hospitalist physician discharged her from the hospital. So, I took her back to her Assisted Living Unit, got her all settled in, and relied heavily on the great staff there to shepherd her through the evening. Ordinarily, she would have been a part of all the events that followed. But, she was really tired and ready to sleep.
Back at home, my in-laws joined our family for our traditional dinner. By then, I had learned the true meaning of multi-tasking and had really lucked out by working ahead the night before. After dinner, we flipped on the computer to track "Santa's path" by satellite. When we first checked, he was in eastern Canada.
My five-year old then took his bath and, before putting on his jammies, peeked at Santa's location on the computer. The adults had retired to the family room when my son came running into the room stark naked shouting, "He's in the United States! He's in the United States! Santa's in the United States in the Midwest!! Who lives in the Midwest??! Do we know anyone in the Midwest? Does anyone live in the Midwest??!" With that, he fell down on the floor in paroxysms of joy. Then someone said, "That means he's close! You better get into your jammies right away and get into bed before he gets here." And, in the wink of an instant, he was dressed and in the bed.
Our side ached from laughing -- and we now had a story that our family lore will never let die.
I checked on my mom and she was sleeping. I wrapped Santa's presents that had been hidden. Ate the cookies, ate the milk and the carrots -- and staggered to bed.
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Technorati Tags: family, tradition, holiday, health
Back at home, my in-laws joined our family for our traditional dinner. By then, I had learned the true meaning of multi-tasking and had really lucked out by working ahead the night before. After dinner, we flipped on the computer to track "Santa's path" by satellite. When we first checked, he was in eastern Canada.
My five-year old then took his bath and, before putting on his jammies, peeked at Santa's location on the computer. The adults had retired to the family room when my son came running into the room stark naked shouting, "He's in the United States! He's in the United States! Santa's in the United States in the Midwest!! Who lives in the Midwest??! Do we know anyone in the Midwest? Does anyone live in the Midwest??!" With that, he fell down on the floor in paroxysms of joy. Then someone said, "That means he's close! You better get into your jammies right away and get into bed before he gets here." And, in the wink of an instant, he was dressed and in the bed.
Our side ached from laughing -- and we now had a story that our family lore will never let die.
I checked on my mom and she was sleeping. I wrapped Santa's presents that had been hidden. Ate the cookies, ate the milk and the carrots -- and staggered to bed.
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: family, tradition, holiday, health
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