3rd day of christmas

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis

All my siblings and I served served as missionaries for our church, which meant that there were lots of Christmases where we were separated as a family. My brothers R1 and R2, and I were all on missions at the same time. At the time, I think there were three Christmases where we were had missionaries away from home.

I remember the first Christmas we were altogether again. My two youngest brothers were pretty excited to have us all home, as was my sister. I was excited to have our whole family together that year. I don't remember specifics, but I do remember feeling that it would be one of the last times that our family would be together like that. I was very aware that our family was getting older and the dynamics would be changing soon with marriages and new families being started. Before too long, my brother R1 was married and our family started growing and changing.

We've had some really good Christmases since then, and some truly awful ones. As I look back, I'm very grateful for all the different times we shared together. The ways in which we grew up and had fun together, and learned to love each other.