Landry Family Christmas Letter, 2015
On more than one occasion this year, someone has commented that "it's going to be quite a Christmas letter this year..."
This year, so very big for us, has caused me to do something unprecedented with our Christmas Letter 2015. I'm sending it out electronically. I never thought I would do this, and hopefully won't do it again, but this year there are two reasons I am doing this.
It has been a very big year, and adding "Christmas cards" into my cozy and relatively quiet little December overwhelmed me unnecessarily.
I hoped to share with you a little on-line album of our family events, and this was the simplest way of doing so. The link is at the end of letter.
And so we start with almost a full year ago -
My beloved Aunt was taken home January 1st. In February we celebrated her life.
February also saw the ordination of our favourite seminarian, now Father Harrison Ayre.
At the end of March my Mom and Breann held a shower for the two daughters getting married.
Just three weeks later, April 22nd - my Mom passed away very suddenly.
When we first lost Mom, I read a pamphlet in the hospital that said that the process of grief can take a year or more. In a few months, the pamphlet said, life would start to feel a little more normal. With pain so fresh, I wondered how on earth I would ever feel normal again. The passage of time, only these few months has seen that sorrow does lessen. But there is a chasm left, that Mom’s loving and giving and laughter filled that all of us together cannot fill and that chasm will never go away. But we can pass on the loving and giving and laughter to our kids and our families and I think that's exactly what Mom would want.
Mom's passing has changed our lives forever. You can only imagine the impact that two sets of grandparents married well over fifty years must affect the young couples just entering into a life long commitment.
May 2nd, Mary and Francis walked down the aisle, united forever in the Sacrament of Matrimony. Mary was stunning and their wedding and reception were perfect in every way, exuding Mary and Francis's joy, and filled to the brim with life-giving love. Francis was the proud groom, and we are so delighted to have him our son-in-law. We had opportunity to meet and have fun with Francis's remarkable family. The newlyweds have made their home right here in the Cowichan Valley.
I instantly pounced on Mary's bedroom and turned it into a pretty guest room.
Nothing happened in June.
July, however, was a different story. Breann has struggled with physical illness this year, and finally mono dragged her down. Her recovery was slow, and after a theatre performance in Kamloops, she collapsed. She was taken to hospital, and it was discovered that she had a bacterial infection in her large intestine that had been going on for some time and in a serious state. She spent nearly two weeks there, and was allowed to go home once her recovery was ensured and stable. She moved back home, and we are thankful to have the opportunity watch over her during this time of recovery. I instantly turned over the pretty guest room to our daughter...it's lovely to have her home again.
Guests can wait.
August brought us some summer fun, lake time, selling stuff at the end of the driveway, (not me, the kids) camp, barbecues, touring, family time and a little fishing with Grampa. Isaac worked at Hi-Tec for the summer. Albert has been busy there, too, of course, graciously juggling work and home life as always.
In September, we hustled Isaac off to Trinity Western University in Langley in the Business department. He begins his second year of university. Isaac is a grownup. Didn't see that coming. That's a lie, he's been a grownup since he was about nine.
The same day we dropped him off, we headed out to Ottawa to help Ian and Lucy prepare for their wedding! They were married September 12th.
Mr. and Mrs. An elegant wedding and convivial reception - their day was a testimony to love and commitment and the support of friends and family. They have taken up residence in Ottawa, which is difficult for us. But having developed friendships with Ian and his charming family, we rest assured that she will have lots of love and support in Ottawa.
October was dull.
In November, for the first time in, like - EVER -I went away by myself for a few days. I went to Ottawa, had a visit with my daughter and son-in-law. They seem to be getting along fine without me. But I just needed to know for sure. It was a seriously effective decompression time for me.
December, of course, is always busy. But this particular year, it feels like respite...
So. Four grown ups living grown up lives. I hope they start Christmas letters of their own, but they'll always have cameos in our Christmas letter. Things are getting kinda quiet at home! The youngers at home are:
Noah (almost 16...studying his driver's manual). He's a hard worker, both around the house and with all his other duties. He takes music and karate, and plays in all the regularly scheduled homeschool events and sports that happen around here. Road hockey, basketball, gym night, skating, archery, karate and foam-sword wars to name but a few. And that, my friends, is Physical Education. He's taller than me. Been waiting for months.
Abel (13 this January), is still working on his schtick. He's got remarkable hair and a remarkable personality to match. It's a "which came first, the chicken or the egg" question: the great hair or the personality. Abel also does all the aforementioned physical activities that Noah does. Both boys have received their green belt level in karate, and they are at the lethal level with the foam swords. He lives for road hockey. His capacity for social life is insatiable.
Lydia is nine. She is tender and gracious, creative and elegant. She reads voraciously, writes frequently, draws constantly, plays piano and has now added fiddle to her repertoire. Playmobil with her dear friend Eleanor is one of her primary social activities. She does not play hockey, floor or otherwise. She doesn't play basketball, take karate and rarely plays gym night games. She does skate and swim - more refined activities. She drops her guard occasionally to play a rousing game of foam swords with the boys, though. She recently got her ears pierced. My baby grows up, I fear.
Oh, and by the way. Uncle Noah, Uncle Abel and Auntie Lydia look forward to the arrival of Bundles of Joy in the Spring. We are entering a whole new world, folks.
Grampa (and by that I mean Albert) and myself celebrate - get this- twenty-five years of marriage on December 31st. We are celebrating big...the whole family, and then some are all going to Playa del Carmen for a week of fun and sunshine at the beginning of January.
We got three new kittens this year. When I say "got" what I really mean is they were home-birthed here. Athena, Delphi and Julian are now added to our family life. Our three youngest at home have been a great help to me this year. They do their work willingly, efficiently and cheerfully most of the time (note: lack of cheerfulness is usually a direct response to MY lack of cheerfulness...working on it). But more than that, they have lavished me with love and hugs and cheer whenever I have needed it. And I have needed it. I am amazed and deeply appreciative of their empathy and kindness in a difficult year for me.
The deep loss of Mom that we have felt this year has not detracted from the richness and beauty of the joy we have also experienced. It has, in fact, made the joy very rich in some ways. Perhaps the knowledge of how precious life is here, and how little time we really all have has allowed us the opportunity to appreciate the beautiful moments more fully. We have all drawn closer together; Dad and my brothers and their families and ours. I have truly been blown away by what an awesome family I have, including our nieces and nephew and sisters-in-law and my sweet cousins. We all cherish our time with Dad.
Mom is praying for us all, looking down on us all (newlyweds and new great grand babies, too!) and she has taken her place amongst the cloud of witnesses cheering us on. I don’t play music and I don’t sing, all I have is words to process all that we’ve been through this year. I’m so grateful for all the spoken words of love in my family.
My brother shared this beautiful poem with us, and for all of you who have lost some one you love - I truly hope it can comfort you in the way it has comforted me over these last few months.
Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away to the next room.
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other,
That, we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effect.
Without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same that it ever was.
There is absolute unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you.
For an interval.
Somewhere. Very near. Just around the corner. All is well.
We love you, Mom and miss you. Please know you are always in our thoughts.
Wishing all our family and friends many blessings,
joy and peace in the coming year. The Landrys of Cobble Hill
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