christmas

back in october my dad decided that he wanted to spend christmas in california, which i was very relieved to hear. a new environment would help us all to not focus on the big empty space my mother's absence would create, and would help us to think of this christmas as the first year for new traditions and the positivity that comes with that.






christmas turned out to be so much better than i ever allowed myself to hope it could be. there's a great deal of strength in commiserating with family, and i feel a lot of appreciation for being old enough to recognize and embrace this. i really liked spending the week and a half with my dad, for example, and i got such enjoyment out of cooking for a group and playing host to tourists.





having a house filled with people, wrapped presents, christmas m&ms, and lots of cookies are things that are, for me, quintessentially christmassy.