I’ve always believed Christmas has a certain sense of peace and joy about it that is incredibly healing:

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.

Norman Vincent Peale

It was Christmas as usual for us this year, keeping pandemic protocol in mind, of course. Vinnie and I just thought of different ways to make it special for the girls, and we had a great time making and baking all the Christmas goodies as a family. Keeping aside the fact that half of the treats mysteriously disappeared as they were being prepared, things turned out great!

I decided to orchestrate the whole ​“Santa visited” show this time, and so we got the girls all excited decorating the house with the Tree and Crib. On Christmas Eve, we turned on the Star and left cookies on the window sill.

And guess what? Santa really visited! He ate up all the cookies and even left a letter for the girls!

This is perhaps my favorite Christmas memory so far — the excitement in their voices and the joy in their eyes! Sometimes children deserve to have their prayers answered. The letter took me around 2.5h in total: counting design, print runs, making the envelop and destroying all evidence of the raw materials.

The season (as has the entire year) was punctuated by multiple trips to the beach. We found a stretch nearby which was particularly deserted and spent many a relaxing evening with the sea breeze on our faces and sand between our toes.

All in all, it’s been a refreshing break from our work and community schedules, and a nice way to end a hectic year.

Happy holidays.