A Very Merry Kipmas
The family was together tonight.
I love being able to say that, you know? Most of my mom's family settled in the Bluffton area, so we see each other pretty regularly. That's the greatest. But I especially love it when my mom's brother and his family come to town because then we really are "us." I'm the same person regardless of who I'm with, but I just always feel so much more like "me" when we're all "us," if that makes any sense at all.
Anyway. We were together tonight for Christmas... or Kipmas, as we like to call it. Which meant fondue for lunch, a flurry of present-opening, and lots of side-splitting laughter. It's like that every year, but I feel like I can appreciate it so much more the older I get and the more things change. Ten years ago, the family Christmas consisted of playing house in the basement with all my cousins' dress-up clothes while everyone else talked upstairs. Now, we're the people talking upstairs, and my aunt's three boys and my cousin's daughter are the ones creating worlds in the basement that only their imaginations can see.
It's a cycle, and it's beautiful, and it makes me just a little sad. Because I've been in such a hurry to grow up, and now I just want it all to slow down so I can breathe a little. One of my cousins lives in California; one lives in Colorado, and another one is thinking of moving there too. At the end of the day, we're going to go our separate ways--at least for a little while--because that's what people do when they grow up.
But wasn't it just last year that I fit on my grandpa's lap and wanted Polly Pockets for Christmas?
When everyone comes together, even though it's just for a few hours, it really is the greatest. No one can make me laugh the way my family can. No one puts a smile on my face quite like the one I get when my little cousins decide they want to cuddle with me. No one loves me so fiercely and fully the way my family does.
I am learning, as it seems people do with time, that the little moments are the ones I'll miss as I get older. Like how my grandpa's entire face lights up whenever he laughs [[oh, I cannot tell you how much I will miss that someday]]. How my cousin Bre sits right beside me when we open gifts, which reminds me that we are and always will be a two-headed monster, joined at the hip even as we lead separate lives. How my little cousins [[who are 7, 5, and 3]] still love to be showered with hugs and kisses--because in a few years I know it will embarrass them.
The list goes on. But really, I just love Kipmas. I love being together. I love laughing with people who mean everything to me. I love knowing that no matter what happens in life, there are always people who will have my back. I love being hundreds of miles away from people and knowing we are not far from the next reunion. I love being loved.
I love that even though life is short, and time can be merciless, we have an eternal promise that means we will ultimately be forever reunited.
Until next year, Kipmas. <3
I love being able to say that, you know? Most of my mom's family settled in the Bluffton area, so we see each other pretty regularly. That's the greatest. But I especially love it when my mom's brother and his family come to town because then we really are "us." I'm the same person regardless of who I'm with, but I just always feel so much more like "me" when we're all "us," if that makes any sense at all.
Anyway. We were together tonight for Christmas... or Kipmas, as we like to call it. Which meant fondue for lunch, a flurry of present-opening, and lots of side-splitting laughter. It's like that every year, but I feel like I can appreciate it so much more the older I get and the more things change. Ten years ago, the family Christmas consisted of playing house in the basement with all my cousins' dress-up clothes while everyone else talked upstairs. Now, we're the people talking upstairs, and my aunt's three boys and my cousin's daughter are the ones creating worlds in the basement that only their imaginations can see.
It's a cycle, and it's beautiful, and it makes me just a little sad. Because I've been in such a hurry to grow up, and now I just want it all to slow down so I can breathe a little. One of my cousins lives in California; one lives in Colorado, and another one is thinking of moving there too. At the end of the day, we're going to go our separate ways--at least for a little while--because that's what people do when they grow up.
But wasn't it just last year that I fit on my grandpa's lap and wanted Polly Pockets for Christmas?
When everyone comes together, even though it's just for a few hours, it really is the greatest. No one can make me laugh the way my family can. No one puts a smile on my face quite like the one I get when my little cousins decide they want to cuddle with me. No one loves me so fiercely and fully the way my family does.
I am learning, as it seems people do with time, that the little moments are the ones I'll miss as I get older. Like how my grandpa's entire face lights up whenever he laughs [[oh, I cannot tell you how much I will miss that someday]]. How my cousin Bre sits right beside me when we open gifts, which reminds me that we are and always will be a two-headed monster, joined at the hip even as we lead separate lives. How my little cousins [[who are 7, 5, and 3]] still love to be showered with hugs and kisses--because in a few years I know it will embarrass them.
The list goes on. But really, I just love Kipmas. I love being together. I love laughing with people who mean everything to me. I love knowing that no matter what happens in life, there are always people who will have my back. I love being hundreds of miles away from people and knowing we are not far from the next reunion. I love being loved.
I love that even though life is short, and time can be merciless, we have an eternal promise that means we will ultimately be forever reunited.
Until next year, Kipmas. <3
Very well said! I'm still trying not to grow up!!
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