Is it the most wonderful time of the year? That depends.

It depends on who you are are, what you do to celebrate, what your Christmas memories are, what your hopes and dreams are, or maybe what you believe.

Or maybe it is where you are in your life at this time, this year, this week, this moment.

Maybe it is a faith-filled, magical season of wonder, or maybe it is the saddest time of the year.

Maybe it is all the above.

Maybe it is a sample, a capsule of life in general, which means it is indeed a wide-range of feelings and emotions. Good and bad. Dark and light. Hopeful and despairing. Sad and happy.

So this is your Christmas. What have you done? Whatever it is, I hope it has brought you peace.

We’ve done a few fun things in 2023…The Sisters of The Sister Lode made more great memories, as shown in this photo montage from previous posts throughout the year:

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Our family gathered Friday night to celebrate the best gift we all got collectively on Christmas Eve 1973: our youngest sibling, our brother Ryan was born. It was the big 5-0, and it was time to throw a party.

Almost all of Mom’s Magnificent Seven were present:

Sometimes, we all need to lighten up a bit…

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When the days seem so short and the nights seem so long, we must remember that Mother Nature is always there to remind us of the beauty all around us. She continues to show off with her splendid Kansas sunrises,

and her magnificent Kansas sunsets.

Now that the winter solstice passed just three days ago, there will be more daylight between these dawns and dusks. This, perhaps, is one of the greatest gifts of the Christmas season for me.

There is another bright light shining in my life. My son, Jude, is home from the other side of the world, and he brought a huge bonus along: our delightful future daughter-in-law, Olivia.

We took a field trip to my beloved Abilene, Kansas last week. We toured the regionally famous Seelye Mansion and the world-famous Eisenhower Museum. Jude had seen them, but Olivia hadn’t. They are both local treasures almost in our backyard, so they were must-sees. However, the original purpose of our trip was for another reason.

Brandon, the tattoo artist extraordinaire, is there. Jude’s overseas work visa requires that he leaves the country every six months. Twice, he and his traveling buddies celebrated their freedom while traveling over July 4th: they all got tattoos with the equivalent of “liberty” first in Arabic, then the next year in Thai.

It was time to get it here in the local language:

And what kind of mother would I be if I didn’t get one with the same message?

I am both free and anchored.

Olivia, in her beautiful, flowery way, got this on her forearm:

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It may perhaps be the most wonderful time of the year. It may, however, take some work to overcome the trials and struggles of the year, but the certainty of a new dawn is always there; Mother Nature has yet to renege on that promise. And the daylight always increases after December 21st. Always.

Birthdays–big and small–come every year, and they are gifts, too.

Happy memories of the past year are there for the taking, focusing on those versus the sadness is always a good prescription.

We all have a certain degree of both freedom and being anchored, so make the best of both.

The beauty of a flower, whether it is from Mother Nature’s art or on Olivia’s arm from Brandon’s art, is always a gift.

May this indeed be the most wonderful time of the year for you.

Merry Christmas from the Sisters of The Sister Lode