Beech Tree News Network

  I still have all my Christmas decorations in place, because Christmas hasn’t come to a conclusion at the Hughes house.  I keep forging ahead, but I’ve got to tell you that my brain has whiplash.

Everybody was supposed to be here.  Our daughters, their husbands, our granddaughter.  I cooked, Garey cleaned.  I bought more groceries the week before Christmas than I’d bought the previous month.  My granddaughter helped me carry them in and put them in the fridge, the pantry, a box on a shelf in the sunroom for the spillovers.  

I made fudge, not just chocolate, but that butter pecan that my granddaughter and I prefer.  I made peanut brittle for Garey and Nikki and Natalie.  I made sure to make it on a dry, sunny day, so it would turn out perfectly.  It did.  I even bought pecan Danish pastries from Riley’s Bakery and put them in the freezer for quick desserts.

My freezer was stocked with plant-based foods for my daughter, Nikki, who is a vegetarian.  I had bacon and country ham and Pillsbury Grands biscuits on the ready for Christmas breakfast.  That’s probably my favorite time.  I love cooking breakfast for my family.  

Things started to go awry for Nikki and her husband, Thomas, first.  Thomas called, “Hey, it looks like we’re going to have to do a New Years’ Christmas,” he said.  My mind did a quick inventory of what I had cooked ahead of time, the candy would be fine, and I could freeze some of the things that wouldn’t.

“No problem,” I said, “We can do that, and I’m sure Natalie and Scott and Sabria won’t mind waiting on you guys.”

“We want you to go ahead and have your Christmas with them, and we will have our Christmas when we get there next week,” Thomas said.

I called Natalie and told her about the change of plans.  I asked if they could still come over Christmas morning, so we could eat together and open presents to each other.

She said that sounded good.

Christmas morning arrived.  Scott called.  Natalie and Sabria were sick, and they wouldn’t be over.  I fixed Christmas breakfast for Garey and me.  We opened our presents to each other, but Garey and I agreed that it just wasn’t the same without the kids.

The next morning arrived.  Scott called and said they would be over, but he didn’t know how much anybody would feel like eating.  Garey had thawed out some wild turkey earlier, so he put that on the grill, and I fixed green beans and potatoes.  It was a far cry from the Christmas dinner of ham, sweet potatoes, and a gazillion other sides that I usually fix.

Nikki called the Saturday after Christmas and told us it would be the week after New Years before they would get here.  That’s the weekend of the tenth.  It’s Sunday, January 5th.  I’m watching freezing rain fall outside my window.  I heard the forecast for next weekend.  More of the same.  I’m really trying to not get discouraged.  I’m reminding myself that one of the most important skills we have in our arsenal of character traits is adaptability.  The ability to pivot.  The telling to oneself, “Let’s change gears.  Let’s make a new plan.  What’s left that we can work with for the better good of everyone involved.”

We made a plan to drive to Alabama on Thursday, January 2nd, to visit Garey’s sister, Charlotte.  She lost her son in November, and she has really struggled through the holidays.  We took the throw that Natalie and Nikki had made for her.  It had pictures of Brad on it.  Charlotte wept when she spread it out.  That one gesture meant so much to her.  I helped her get her Direct TV set up on both TVs.  She was so grateful and so touched that we had spent part of our holiday with her.

We hadn’t had the trip in our plans, but I’ve learned that sometimes Pivot is the plan after all.