"Christmas, a Perfect time for Family Reflection" - Time Out #68

Christmas is the most special of all days for many people on planet earth.

It brings out so many emotions in people all over the globe.

To religious faith-based people, it is the most important day on the calendar. The places of Christian worship are usually beautifully decorated, and inside their walls are millions of their faithful followers.

It is also a wonderful time of the year for families to gather together and worship, celebrate, and usually strengthen those powerful human bonds that individuals have with their unique family unit..

Ours certainly rediscovered that again the recent Thanksgiving week, the official beginning of this holiday season. Eight of our clan gathered at our daughter and son-in-laws' home in north Dallas for 5 days of conversation, food, laughter and interacting with the group's youngest member, 7-year-old, Maya, our oldest son's daughter. Allan's family currently lives in far-away, Juneau, Alaska.

As I closely observed this tiny little package of human dynamite, as I refer to Maya, it was truly a magical narrow window of time in the big picture. She is so special. Yes, she is our only grandchild.

More about Lady Maya later after a little more holiday family discussion.

Christmas brings about the past, present and future, all on the same family stage. The Dickens' Christmas Carol classic brings this triad out beautifully in it's main character, Ebenezer Scrooge. Dickens' audience is led through Scrooge's troubled life in long-ago England. Because many people return home, the former family nest has the potential to bring out the good, bad and ugly in all its members at Christmastime. Many people travel hundreds, or in some cases, thousands of miles, via planes, trains and automobiles, to enter that familiar front door they entered day after day after day as a youngster, pre-teen, teenager, young adult and now a full-pledged member of American society. That's not to say when that middle-age adult crosses under the traditional mistletoe and into the evergreen smelling home, his/her mind won't revert back to the way life used to be for them; i.e., many past Christmas celebrations under that same roof. Weird? Yes, it certainly has all the ingredients to be a little mind-boggling.

Which brings me back to Ms.Maya, previously mentioned.

As I watched her play in and out of her teepee tent her aunt, Michelle, specially purchased for Maya's visit, it absolutely brought out the kid in her Grandfather Robert (me). My mind's eye vaguely remembered being her age, and loving my play tents, long, long ago in our family front room. Later, I continued to thoroughly enjoy Maya's youthful enthusiasm at Six Flags Over Texas amusement park for 5 hours without her even giving a hint of being tired or cranky. When Grandmother Debbie took a risk by introducing Maya to scrap booking on Michelle's front room coffee table, Debbie's idea was a HUGE success. For hours and hours after being given the basics of scrap booking, Maya recorded her Thanksgiving holiday with great detail and gusto. Our 1st grader was absolutely entranced, and totally occupied without supervision! Friday after Turkey Day, three of us took Maya to the relatively new Perot Museum of Nature and Science in downtown Dallas. Once again, she was a sheer joy to be with for several hours. Our group toured the lovely Birds of Paradise special display in the building's basement, marveled at all the dinosaur exhibits, along with bird displays on the 5th floor, before ending our day there with 3-D glasses watching the incredible National Geographic film "Extreme Weather". An absolute thrill for me during this last outing was carefully observing just how well Uncle Robbie interacted with Maya while we were visiting the museum. He had also been a super uncle for her in the Six Flags experience, too, but the inside museum experiences were much easier for me to observe.. I loved seeing their many exchanges, and told Robbie later, I truly think he will be wonderful father in future years.

As grandmother and I headed our vehicle north toward Our Town to end this holiday period, we talked almost the entire route about what a great holiday bonding experience we all enjoyed for that special few days in Dallas. We both know family holiday togetherness is such a vital cog in the wheel of life.

And let's keep all the joy paying it forward with a big Merry Christmas to all, and the very best to you and yours throughout 2017!