My Goodness!

Time is moving at such a fast pace! I suppose it's because of the holidays. But, I just need to slow it down a bit...to give myself some time to breath.

When I realized this week that neither of my two youngest boys will get home for Christmas, I decided to join Gene and Priscilla in Puerto Rico for the Holidays. First, I will spend Christmas Day with Kyle, Jess, Chloe and the rest of my family and the next morning I will board a plane to seek the warmth and treasure of that beautiful Island!! I haven't had a vacation in about three years, so I am dancing on a cloud...

Kenny, our boys and I, went with Gene and Priscilla to Puerto Rico many years ago. We joined them at Christmastime and between our two families, hauled six little be-bopping, back-pack toting boys onto that plane!! It was quite a trip and over the years we have laughed and laughed at the antics of it all.

This year, when I heard they were going again between Christmas and New Years, I thought, "Oh, how different it will be spending the Holiday without them!" Ringing in the New Year together has been our tradition for a long, long time. But as it turns out...with my typical brush of serendipity, I get to go along!!

Our families started spending New Year's together when the boys were just little tykes. We would devote the entire evening to keeping all our boys in line and eating, drinking, and playing Trivial Pursuit or Pictionary, while laughing at our two very funny husbands!! I can just hear the sound of Gene chuckling at Kenny...and Kenny howling back. The big joke, which became quite old frankly, was the guys pretending to shave their faces with the game buzzer. Oh the silliness of it all!!!

After a fun evening we would usher in the New Year together watching that ball drop in New York City. We happily raised a glass of champagne to the memory of a special year passing and a new one just beginning. Ken and I would finally bundle up our sleeping boys and carry them through the cold to the car. Then we would drive a few houses up to get them home. Oh my, those were the days!!!

This year, all of Gene and Priscilla's boys and their girlfriends, wife etc. are going along. Their youngest son Daniel will just have to be "my date" because neither of us will have a significant other this year. Thankfully Dan is a good sport! I think I will even try to convince him to dance with me to Old Lang Syne! My guess? It will be a sappy, sentimental moment.

And I'm looking forward to hugging Priscilla's Mom again and her sister Gretchen. I haven't seen them since Kenny died, so I'm sure those hugs will be bittersweet.

Tomorrow I'm going to start packing. I have something special to look forward to!