And, so this is Christmas.

 2020.  A year of firsts. . . and seconds. . .and thirds. . . and fourths.

2020. A year of fourths. The fourth Christmas after. The fourth Christmas of wondering how we got here.

2020. A year of thirds.  The third year that we have a Tristan in the family instead of an Anna. This is the third year that the infamous Christmas stocking hung on the mantle with Anna covered up a ribbon embroidered with Tristan.

2020.  A year of seconds.  For the second year in a row, I didn’t see my youngest on Christmas Day.  Like last year, Tristan worked on Christmas Day this year.    Starbucks is non-negotiable, even on Christmas Day; some people need their fix 365 days a year.  We did our Christmas with Tristan a week early, Italian take-out and all.  And for the second time, there were no kids in our Christmas card photo.

2020.  A year of firsts. Christmas 2020 is the year that we did something unheard of in our family—we actually sent Christmas cards with a photo of just me and Curt, no kids. That’s a BIG deal, because  photo Christmas cards are very much a thing in our family.  To be precise, Christmas cards with a group photo of the entire family are THE thing, and that thing has been non-negotiable since 1990.  [If you’ve read the book then you know the rest of the story and I’ve saved you from the repetition.]  But last year was different; the picture on the card had no kids, just Mom and Dad.   And guess what happened to last year’s cards?  They were printed, but not a single card was sent.  It was just too weird; I couldn’t do it.  But this year I did it; the couple-photo cards were printed, the envelopes stuffed, and those bad boys went in the mailbox!  

2020—the year of endless firsts. I’ll be glad to see it in the rearview! 2021, here I come!