Today was a fun day. Denis and I headed out to the mall to pick up a gift for the gift swap at my family’s Christmas party, only to find the store he went to had no good selection. So what does he decide to buy a 19/20 year old? A Starbucks gift card and a toy helicopter. I balked at both and put in a quick call to my aunt to run by the idea of a basic giftcard for her son. She said that was fine. I said, “Does he drink coffee – what about a Starbucks card?” to which she replied he doesn’t drink coffee.
So Denis bought himself a $20 Starbucks giftcard and a toy helicopter today. Merry Christmas to Denis. We got a Target giftcard for my cousin.
Then Uncle Bill came over for a couple hours and watched the kids exhaust themselves playing. It was a nice low-key visit and it was good to see him, even for such a short time.
After that we headed over to my aunt’s for the Christmas party. It was a fun time – it usually is. CootieBoy and CootieGirl had the companionship of a 2nd cousin named Natalie who is the same age as CB. They quickly became inseparable and spent much of the four hours at the party following each other and taking laps around the “house circle” (parents know what I’m talking about). They lapped that circle no less than 1,000 times. CG joined in occasionally as well.
My grandmother was there, after recovering from surgery a few weeks ago. She was noticably weak and just looked…old. I know that’s weird to say – she IS old, she’s 94 years old, but until today, in my mind, I figured she’d live forever. The woman I saw today was frail. Elderly. Just a woman in a chair occasionally catching glimpses of conversation and responding to questions when asked directly. The woman I saw today needed to be spoken to in gentle tones and made as comfortable as possible. It was weird – because we’re normally not that way with my grandmother. Usually she’s right in there with us with the digs, the friendly barbs, the teasing. But not today. And that made me really, really sad. I love my grandma. Of all my grandparents, I’m not ashamed to say she was my favorite. Sure, I loved all my other grandparents, but GG and I totally had a connection while I was growing up and I adore her. I hate to think that someday – next year? five years from now? ten years from now? – that she’ll be gone forever.
So while it was a fun evening, it was a bittersweet one as well, and I’m glad my dad asked us to come down.