It is a Wonderful Life

I'm a big believer in stretching out celebrations. Birthdays should last at least a week, and Christmas deserves a good month. I love the music, lights, parties, window-shopping, eggnog, traveling, snow, the preparation and excitement of getting together.

We are all going our separate ways this year, so we gathered at Froggydaddy's parents' for an early Christmas dinner.

Froggy was WIRED! She loves their cat Harvey, and tortured him until he gave her a look like, "Girl, it would only take one swing from this paw to knock you into next year," so we let him retire to the bedroom. She didn't quite get it and crawled around the house all night hissing and saying, 'kitty.'

It's a tradition every year that Sissy Snuggiekins and Grandma W decorate a gingerbread house. It turned out beautifully and even Froggy got to sprinkle some coconut snow. And when I say 'sprinkle' what I really mean is 'hurl violently at anyone in her destructive path.' It was more of a Gingerbread house caught in a blizzard, than a peaceful dwelling of candy.

Froggy was enamored by her sissy and autie "Heder". She is such a girly girl and wanted to play in Grandma's shoe closet. At one point in the evening, we all said, "who has Froggy?" and realized no one did. We scurried around and found the little diva in the bathroom brushing her hair. And she doesn't even have hair.

Froggy loved her Elmo phone and kept saying, "helloooooooooo, helloooooooooo, hmmmm?, hmmmm? hellooooooooo!" And I'm not sure what she enjoyed more, playing her bongos or the hysterical reaction she got from us when she played her bongos.

After a delicious meal, we settled in for the classic, "It's A Wonderful Life." I've probably seen that film a million times and still hope Uncle Billy remembers putting the money in Mr. Potter's paper. But if he wasn't so absent-minded, there would be no reason for George to learn how important his presence is in the world. It's like the last poem Raymond Carver wrote:

LATE FRAGMENT

And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

I know I do. And even though I've seen it a million times, I still get choked up at the end of the film, when little Zuzu says, "Look Daddy, everytime a bell rings an angel gets his wings." What an amazing gift to let people know they have changed your life for the better. And if you don't know it, our friends and family and the complete strangers who helped us feel loved this year - Your presence has made a difference. Thank you. And Merry Christmas.