Everyday is Christmas

I was standing in church on Christmas Eve with my family and I had to take a pause. I looked at the pew in front of us and it was a family filled with young children; each child had to be under the age of five. I looked behind us and I noticed a family filled with adolescent children with no child under the age of 14. Then I looked at my family with my daughter at the age of 10 and my son at the age of 7 and thought how “poetic”. In front us were where we have come from and behind us was where we were headed. I am sure it would have been a more “poetic” sentence if those verbs were reversed but hopefully my meaning is understood.

I watched the young family with the toddler squirming on the pew and had to laugh because not too long ago this was what exactly my daughter and son used to do. Then behind us with the “interesting” dressed teenagers with their family and thought I wonder what my daughter and son will be like when they reach that age. I have to realize there are no coincidences in life and this was no coincidence the three families were lined up in this order. I love my family more than anything in my life and I am beyond fortunate to have a second chance. I know I messed up the past and I don’t know what the future will provide but I do know that today is an incredible gift and thanks to recovery I am enjoying this present.

As my mother would say; “Christmas is over,” and yes, it is over for this year. All of the preparation and anticipation seems to pass in an instance as all the presents are opened and the great moments shared. However; really everyday is like Christmas morning for me and I hope I NEVER lose that family. Somewhere over the course of time I forgot those moments which lead to the “big moment” but now as long as recovery stays present with me every morning will indeed be like Christmas morning since I have experienced the antithesis of Christmas morning having lost my freedom for those 19 ½ months.

Our celebration with our dear friends lasted well into the evening the hours last night and yes, it was a wonderful time through and through. The laughs were plentiful and the company divine. Everyone was a bit tired this morning and with no real work on the schedule I made my way to the gym in order to continue my training for the marathon. This week and next week are the most intense of the training program as the miles ramp up.

Yes, my maladies continue as I seem to have “cured” my right calf but now the left calf is acting up. This is to be expected and as long as there aren’t any long term injuries especially lasting into the marathon I should be great. I am looking forward to next month and running that only marathon I started but didn’t finish of the 8 I have run. That was five years ago and needless to say a great deal has transpired in that period of time. I will take the marathon as I take everything in life one step at a time.

I returned home where the family was shaking off the cobwebs from the Christmas celebration and my wife had tried to find a Christmas tree during the many after Christmas sales. Our Christmas is a very nice tree and we have had it for 9 years. It is a tree that is a real pain to put together but once it is together it does indeed look great. It isn’t one of those three piece trees with all the lights already attached; it does take some assembly but this year my daughter did most of that assembly.

My wife didn’t find another tree and it appears we will have this tree for another year which really isn’t so bad but the branches are indeed fraying so its life span is diminishing rapidly. My wife does an incredible job decorating not only the tree but the rest of the house. Our tradition does not allow us to take the Christmas decorations down until after New Year’s Day so we have a week to go to continue enjoying the lovely decorations.

Later in the day I was outside with my son and we were playing football just the two of us. He has become quite the little football player and I have toyed with the idea of having him play “Pop Warner” football (tackle football) next year but after talking with a few friends who had their sons play it is a very big commitment. My son will be 8 in February and I think it is a bit too early for this type of commitment and besides that I want him to have fun so I will probably wait a few years until he gets the full effect of football. We had a great time in front of the house playing our brand of one on one touch football. My son let me win as I eked out the victory in the waning seconds of the game.