Images and Thoughts from a Holiday

Grayson braiding traditional holiday bread:




Mr. E's brother, "Uncle Greggy" 'helping Grandpa' repair things around the house:




Carter 'helping' Mr. E's sister, "Aunt Spinny" make the rolls:




Playing to the camera:




Brooke opening presents from the cousins pictured. Please forgive my poor portraiture, Cousin M:




There are so many, many more photos memorializing our trip, but Blogger only permits me to publish 5 at one time. And being too ignorant to navigate Flickr and too apathetic to try harder, I'll impose only these on you -- along with the following thoughts.

It is hard to watch parents age, and harder yet for them to live it. Holidays rub it in, when tasks and traditions once performed by one or two are now assigned to 7 or 8; not because the one or two wanted relief or assistance, but because the one can no longer keep up. This pains everyone, but the one most of all.

Ah... but despite any pain or the rigors of travel, still the sounds of family chatter, the annual "Fight to the Death" game of Scrabble on a deluxe edition board, foods made and tasted but once per year, the laughter of children "sledding" down the staircase on a dilapidated mattress... these bring more enjoyment than pain.

So the trudge of time continues, deaf to our pleas for it to freeze certain moments, preserving them inviolate forever. But holidays? These suspend the rush of the clock, distilling love from a whole calendar year and delivering it, pure and clear, in crystalline form for a day.

Maybe that's why they were originally known as "holy days."