Holiday Party

Well, tonight is our office holiday party at my boss' house. Should be interesting. I haven't really had the chance to socialize with any of my co-workers yet. It's hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner. In a week, Gary and I will be flying home to Texas.

I wish I could share with Gary some of the traditions that I grew up. But I can't recreate some of them. One of my favorite holiday traditions growing up was a block party that one of my former neighbors hosted. When I was almost four, we moved to a house one block over from our former one. So, we still stayed in touch with all of our old neighbors. One of them, Libby, was a very sweet elderly lady who had been a nurse and had traveled the world. As she got older, it was difficult for her to decorate her home so she would host a holiday party every year and the neighbors would gather and decorate her tree and home. I looked forward to it every year. Her house would be so cozy. And everyone would bring treats to share. Libby always had a small gift for every neighborhood child. And, for a reason I can't remember, I always got to put the star on top of the tree. Evidently, that had been my job since I was too young to remember. And I was still performing the task into my teens. After decorating and eating, we would listen to someone read the Christmas Story from the bible and then we'd sing carols. Sometimes, one of the neighbors would bring his trumpet. It was so great! I really miss that. And Libby.