Journal: 12/25/2005

Wow, how lucky I am to be able to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in ways as wonderful as these last two days. Yesterday my daughter Annie and I took a leisurely stroll through the park around 1:00, and ended up at a quaint tea shop in downtown Westerly. The place was tastefully furnished with the finest tablecloths and china, and we enjoyed a delicious lunch and tasty tea in old-world china. We ate slowly, enabling us to have a long, thoughtful conversation, as father and daughter should. Then, last night I was lucky to be invited to two Christmas Eve celebrations. I first went to an old Victorian farmhouse owned by parents of one of my students, where I enjoyed an hour’s worth of great conversation with old and new friends. From there I went to a small dinner party hosted by two of my best friends, where we all took part in the good friendship of the season. The conversation was vigorous and happy, and the food was simply the best. And finally, to top it all, I just returned from an amazing Christmas dinner at my former wife Jan’s house, with all of our children present, plus a few great friends and our grandson, young Noah. It was a celebration worthy of Charles Dickens. There were gifts by the ton, luscious holiday food, and – best of all – the kind of love and peace that family’s pray to have. Driving home on the rainy streets, I felt like I was floating away on the wings of simple, unbounded gratitude.