Blue Christmas

This was not one of our happier Christmas seasons. My sister Heather was in the hospital in Boston from mid-December onward, and we were all very worried about her. There was no snow for weeks before and after, and Sarah and I missed some of our favorite traditions due to sickness. We did our best to enjoy special moments, however.

The Advent season started out well enough, with a visit to the gingerbread house display at the Spr*ngfield Museums.

Sarah donated a bunch of toys that she no longer plays with to kids in our area who would otherwise not receive gifts. I was proud of her generosity and amazed that she parted with so many. Letting go of things is not her forte.

Sarah's favorite elf, Sparkle, came to our church's Christmas party again. Sarah just loves seeing her every year.

We both saw The Nutcracker for the first time, presented by the Pion**r Valley Ballet. It included a VIP reception, with yummy cupcakes.

The annual Caroling on the Green, organized by our church, was festive and fun, despite a dearth of snow. Our little town really shines at Christmas.

We got our tree close to home this year, at one of the tree farms in town. Grammy came along to get hers, as well. Again, no snow.

I ordered ornaments that show Sarah at Christmas each year, and I love how they came out!

We visited Santa's Trains at L**k Park, which is always magical. Sarah even talked with Santa and asked for a nail painting set and a Humphrey the Hamster book.

Sarah was big enough to really help make cookies this year.

And she still loves making Swedish sausage with Dad. It's their special ritual (and I gladly make myself scarce).

Don built a white board for Sarah's room a couple of months ago, and he started leaving her a holiday doodle each day.

On December 18, our festive season took a scary turn, when Heather had a severe attack of SMART syndrome, a long-term side effect of the radiation she had years ago on metastasized breast cancer tumors in her brain. She spent 11 uncertain days at Br*gham and Women's Hospital in Boston, struggling to recover from stroke-like symptoms, including paralysis in her left arm and leg and impaired speech. My mom and I visited her every other day. She was transferred to a rehab hospital closer to home on the 29th.

We tried to maintain our Christmas rituals despite Heather's illness and planned to have my mom, Forrest, Sam, and Kelley over for Tater Tot Hotdish on Christmas Eve, but Sarah came down with the stomach flu early that morning. We had to cancel our dinner, and she and I stayed home from the Christmas Eve service, which is my favorite. Fortunately, the worst was over by Christmas Eve night.

We spent Christmas Day at home, just the three of us, which is our tradition. Sarah was feeling much better but was not completely herself yet, as you can tell in the photos. By evening, I was coming down with the bug.

Through sheer force of will and some over-the-counter meds, I held the virus at bay and felt well enough to attend our family celebration at my mom's the next day. It wasn't the same without Heather.

Since we missed our Christmas Eve photo op, we had a make-up shoot before we took the tree down.

I must say I was glad to have the Christmas season over. Sarah, however, proclaimed, "This was an awesome Christmas!" That's all that matters, really.