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Traditional, right?<\/p><\/div>\n

Are you full from your turkey, or ham, or roasted butternut squash? Whatever you’ve tucked into after a day of gorging yourself on prezzies?<\/p>\n

More importantly, are you happy with what you got?<\/p>\n

I’m happy with what I got. And I don’t mean presents, I mean with the family I’ve inherited.<\/p>\n

Over the last 7+ years, every time we travel to Vermont or Quebec to celebrate Xmas, I’m constantly blown away at the pure hospitality offered to me. Even when I would wake up in a strange bed in my Mother In Law’s home, where neither one of us could communicate well to each other, beyond hand signals and grade 9 level of vocab, I always felt like I was welcome.<\/p>\n

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That's right... a sleigh ride on Xmas Eve, in VT. <\/p><\/div>\n

This year I was on emotional pins and needles. Though my father and I rarely ever celebrated Xmas in the last decade (he was pretty much “wintering” out of the country or down in Niagara Falls staying with his best friend) this was the first time I didn’t send him a card or get him a gag dollar store gift or even just call him on the phone. For weeks beforehand I was wondering how I was going to cope with this glaring emptiness during the season. To say I was uncomfortable was a bit of an understatement: would I burst into tears from a comment or a shard of a memory?<\/p>\n

Here’s where I share some love: I commend my Sis-in-law for her ability to keep me “occupied”. Not that I was distracted like a baby with car keys in front of my face the entire time at her house. No. But before Da’s passing, she created a new base of traditions, like little excursions to local spots of interest around her home, or gift giving stylizations that are heart warming and comforting (read: home made gifts). She had created traditions that when Da left us, had me prepared to sail through Xmas without much distress. It wasn’t 100% fool-proof: I did manage to have a nightmare where I had to relive my father’s death all over again, so the thoughts were there, but this particular Xmas felt…right. Things were in place to make the holiday still feel good. The sleigh ride through the VT country side, on Xmas eve was certainly a highlight. It was surreally like a Currier and Ives painting.<\/p>\n

I love my new family.<\/p>\n

Okay with that gooey stuff out of the way, let’s get to the consumerist, greedy list of cool things I got:<\/p>\n