Well, hello friends. I hope everybody had a fabulous Christmas season. I am in my last weekend before I go back to school, and honestly, I think my body and brain are ready to be back to work.

We had a rough December here. My beloved Uncle Roger passed away rather unexpectedly. He was not in great health, but we did not think he was near death. It’s been rough on my whole extended family especially my dad. It was his little brother.

My uncle passed away the day before our family Christmas party, so we were heading up to Cleveland for that party anyway so it was lovely and cathartic to be with the whole family after he passed. Here are some pictures of that evening.

My uncle that passed away was the same uncle who was the Grand Marshal of the Cleveland St. Patrick’s Day parade.

The day after the family Christmas party my aunt has a cookie party. She has an amazingly beautiful home and the kids all run around while the adult make cookies. Then everybody takes some home. It’s a fun afternoon/evening. However, this year there was a sadness in the air. My cousin Bridget and I and many other family members worked on planning the funeral mass during the party. She did an awesome job pulling it all together!

I just realized I have 0 pictures from that party. Oops.

On Sunday, Henry and I headed back to Springfield to pack for the funeral. We both went to school half day on Monday then drove to Cleveland for the visitation at the funeral home. Henry loves seeing his cousins at these things so it was nice to have my little buddy with me. Craig came up after work and the three of us stayed at a hotel and attended the funeral on Tuesday. It was the grandest funeral. There were so many people whose lives my Uncle touched. It was absolutely a perfect tribute to him. Then, after the burial there was a luncheon at a reception hall. That was really nice and we ended it with a rousing rendition of Piano Man by Billy Joel. It was an Uncle Roger classic.

Then we went back to Springfield so I could work Wednesday, my last day before break. I wanted to get all of my exams grades before break. After that was our faculty Christmas party. I went for a little bit. I was so worn out.

Henry ended up getting sick and pink eye over the weekend so he missed his last day of school before break and spent the rest of the week resting back to good health. We all ended up getting it, too, and it’s lasted for. Ev. Er. (We are all still coughing.)

Anyway… next up the magical Christmas. Henry was so into all of it and it made it so fun. We did our Christmas morning on Christmas Eve morning so we could have a leisurely morning and hang out and enjoy the presents and the day. I was so happy with this decision. We had pancakes and family fun in our jammies.

Then, in the afternoon we went to my parents and opened gifts there, and had a delicious dinner. We had shrimp and steak. It was a really nice evening. Henry was loving all of it.

We woke up Christmas morning and went over to my in laws and had breakfast and more presents. My mother in law really works hard on Christmas shopping and she buys so many gifts for everybody and they are all thoughtful. Then we relaxed all day and ate some more! Hahaha.

On our way home from their house we stopped at my parents. We had a nice visit and then went home to bed!

The next day we were heading up to Cleveland as my aunt’s ex husband passed away. Their kids are my cousins whom I love dearly. Originally I was just going to go up by myself and attend the funeral but Craig was really not feeling well, so I brought Henry with me. He was happy to see his little funeral buddies.

These are my cousins’ kids and Henry’s play buddies. He couldn’t believe he had so many cousins.

We came home the next day and then spent the next few days hibernating at our house.

Then, we found out that a recent alumni of my school died tragically. He just went out for a jog and collapsed and died due to an undetected heart defect. It’s been awful. He was the greatest kid and it’s been a really devastating week. We were supposed to go back to school Thursday, but the school ended up closing Thursday and Friday for the funeral. It was the largest funeral I had ever been to. It was very sad. I’m hoping the family continues to feel the support of our community. But, man, they’ve got a tough road ahead of them. My heart goes out to them. Just so tragic.

So, now we are having the slowest morning ever then I have to get motivated to clean my house. It’s been neglected over break. I was being hard on myself about it but now that I typed my break out I realize it’s been a rough one and I need to give myself some grace.

I hope you are all having a great start to your New Year!! ♥️

Xoxo

Beth WA