Christmas -- Mission Accomplished

Our T's mother lives in the city just about 45 minutes north of us. Her brother lives just a few minutes from her mother's house. She has a young-adult niece and teenage nephew, both of whom she helped to parent when they were very small, who live with their mother in Michigan. When the kids come to visit, it is an event.

Our usual routine at the holidays is to go one evening to her mother's house to have dinner with the kids and open gifts with them. The timing of that is always a little tight as their visit is sandwiched in between jobs, school, and their desire to get back home for Christmas day with their younger siblings.

Tonight was the planned gathering. We were scheduled to head north as soon as Master and T got home from work. The "enchilada casserole" (our contribution to dinner) was ready to go. But then trouble struck in the form of a significant ice storm. The warnings were that there were accidents everywhere and that the roads were increasingly difficult closer to T's mom's place. We checked the online weather services and found that it was projected to get icier and icier until about 2 AM. By the time she was ready to leave work and head home, T had decided that it was impossibly dangerous to make the trip tonight. She was heartbroken; so was her mother.

Both Master and T made it home safely after work, and we ate a very somber supper. T was terribly upset. We talked about how many years we've pulled this off without ever being impeded by weather. As we talked, Master came to a decision. He'd driven in far worse weather than this, and He was quite sure that He could navigate the roads. We were on our way after all...

T called her niece and nephew to tell them we were on the way, and they were amazed. "But the roads are terrible," they told her. She assured them that it would be OK. "After all, your Uncle is a force of nature," she told them.

We made it just fine. We picked the kids up at their father's house, and went on to their grandmother's house. The neighborhoods were pretty dicey, but we did fine. We hand a lovely visit, opened all the gifts, chatted for a bit, and headed on home. Master is the Hero of the season. What could have been a very sad ending to our evening before Christmas Eve turned into a happy family gathering because He made it happen.

We're well launched into the seasonal festivities. May all of you find your way, through whatever obstacles, to be with those you love and care for. Have a wonderful Christmas.

swan