Five Days Until Christmas

It’s December 20th. The grass is still green, the leaves have been carted away by the city, and there is little to no chance of a white Christmas in Toledo. In five days, we will celebrate Christmas in my house as we always do, coming home from Mass late on Christmas Eve, sleeping in on Christmas morning, and opening gifts over coffee and Kolacky when the house is all awakened. I can usually slip in reading the paper and even a few chapters of a book before the kids get up. Now that they are grown, sleeping in is better than opening presents, I suppose. I still look forward to that magical moment when I arise and know it’s Christmas morning, that feeling that comes but once a year. Happy holidays everyone.