So Thoughtful

I couldn’t be more proud of my 16-year-old great nephew. Several years ago we had a Christmas that he always refers to as “his best Christmas ever”. For 12 years he was an only child and there were several miscarriages. The doctors said she would never be able to carry a baby full term and they stopped worrying and paying for methods and decided the three of them were the perfect little family. He was four years old when he had his best Christmas ever. 

Miracles happen and he is now 16 and has two younger brothers. This year he came and asked if we could recreate his best Christmas ever for his two little brothers. I explained that we could try and things are never exactly the same. I then had to let the family know what I had committed to making happen.

When he was four one of his aunt’s from “the other side of the family” was really upset when he ripped the endpaper off the straw and blew the wrapper across the room. He received a very long and loud reprimand in a very public place. I grew up with a brother that teased me anyway he could. I can’t even begin the number of times I got hit with straw papers. 

So one of the uncles decided it would be a good idea to get a whole bunch of straws in wrappers, tear off one end so they were ready to blow and have a huge straw fight for Christmas. 

As it turns out it was fun and glorious. The only real child there was a 4-year-old.  The rest of us were adults and it was a blast. Everything in the living room, including the tree, was covered in wrappers. We laughed for hours and it took hours to clean up. Everyone helped and almost everyone loved it. The one standout we knew would, and we were all fine he didn’t find any of it fun. So we are going to the best of our ability to recreate the joy.

The families have all grown, so the three of us have torn the end of the wrappers on 8000 straws. (Before anyone gets too upset, there are useful plans for the straws as well.) The family Christmas Party is on December 22nd. We have decided to do it then as to not interrupt Christmas Day plans each family may have. There are 11 children in our family who were not even born and may not have even seen the pictures or heard about what had happened.

If nothing else the 16-year-old has a big heart and wants to create magic. 

Now for the big poll question.