Another Christmas, come and gone

The presents have been opened. Vast quantities of food has been consumed. There's miscellaneous bits of ribbon and wrapping hiding in strange places. That can only mean one thing.....Christmas, once again, has come and gone.
As usual, it was a wonderful day. Actually, our celebrating spans a couple of days. Trying to work with everyone else's holiday schedule makes it more like an open house for a few days. This year, the holiday continues for a few more days. Tonight we'll celebrate with neighbors. Tomorrow, Josh should be home and we get to do the gift thing all over again!
As I get older, I see Christmas from a different angle. Gone are the days when Christmas Eve meant staying up late to be sure Santa's gifts were wrapped and the stockings were filled. Now everything is wrapped and ready to go way before the day arrives. No longer do we struggle with the "slot A into tab B" instructions. The milk and cookies are shared by everyone, not just left for Santa.
While some of the chaos has been removed, it's been replaced with a wonderful feeling of family. Having the kids here for Christmas still makes the day for me. As they have gotten older and moved away, their visits mean even more. It's a time to catch up on their life. A time to just look over and see their faces. To know, that for a brief while, our family is together again, under the same roof.
While some things change, others remain the same. There still has to be a new ornament on the tree with their name and the year written on it. There had better be egg-nog to drink. Certain cookies are baked only at Christmas. (Although I don't know why...they could be made any time of year!) But if these things weren't present at Christmas, there would certainly be a void.
Our family has expanded. We now have the joy of grandchildren! But, over the years, our "family" includes friends near and dear to us. While not related by blood, they are just as much family. I'm sure you have special folks like that in your life too.....the ones you can call, anytime day or night. Good news or bad, they're there to share it with you.
To me, Christmas boils down to blessings. The blessing of family. The blessing of health. The blessing of wealth. For although we may not have monetary wealth, we are the richest folks on earth.
Wishing each of you a happy, healthy and blessed New Year!